People make up the fabric of a community. One example is Hubert Beard, who with his wife Florence operated H. P. Beard Hardware on Main Street for 59 years. His community service activity included dedication to his church, the Waterman Masonic Lodge, and Johnson Boy Scout Troop 94, which he started in the early 1950s. His ability to fix or build whatever was needed for a project was legendary. On his School Street property, he built a rope tow for skiing and kept access to the Gihon River open for fishing and swimming, complete with a diving board and picnic table. Learn more about Johnson’s farmers, mill workers, talc miners, merchants, sugar makers, homemakers, teachers, clergy and more in the gallery.

Voters in Johnson chose to consolidate a number of village graded schools and high school in 1895. Construction of the first phase of the new school began on the present School Street site. The first graduating class in 1904 had three students. As more of the 17 one-room schools closed, an addition was added to the west-side of the building in 1911. Find more about public education in Johnson recorded in Gallery.