Abandoned Appalachia Series
A school on Browney’s Creek
Cubbage Elementary stood in the Miracle community of far-southeastern Bell County, Kentucky, near the junction of KY 987 and KY 219. Locals often identify the broader area by the stream that drains it, Browney’s Creek, and by the clustered family names that gave Miracle its name. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names places Miracle in Bell County with ZIP 40856, a reminder that this was a real place with a post office, churches, and a small county school that anchored daily life.
How the site became a school
The ground under Cubbage entered public educational use in 1932 when the Kentucky & West Virginia Coal & Mining Company conveyed a parcel to the “Trustees for Browney’s Creek Community School.” The deed limited use to “school and educational purposes” and included a reversion if the land ever ceased to be used for a school or for housing teachers, staff, or students. Federal court records later reproduced those terms verbatim while recounting the site’s history.
A small, steady county school
Through the mid and late twentieth century the campus operated as one of Bell County’s rural elementary schools. It typically served the lower grades, first K-5 then K-6 in some years, and answered to the Bell County Board of Education. Its footprint matched the modest brick schools the county put up in the 1950s: a rectangular, single-story block with seven or eight classrooms on one side and offices and a cafeteria on the other. A portable classroom sat behind the building for overflow. Much of this picture comes from local documentation and on-the-ground notes compiled about the site.
Consolidation and closure
By the late 1990s the district faced aging facilities and shrinking enrollments. In the 1999–2000 school year Cubbage’s student body fell below 100, with one local tally placing it at 89. The Bell County Board of Education moved to consolidate several small elementaries, and Cubbage was among those slated to close. A subsequent federal opinion confirms the key dates from the district’s plan, noting that the Board “used the Subject Property for educational purposes until 2000” when it “decided to cease use of the subject property for school purposes” and declared it excess.
After the last bell
Once school use ended, the 1932 deed’s reversion clause triggered a dispute over who held title to the land. Black Mountain Energy, successor to the original coal company, asserted ownership based on the deed’s language, and the case landed in federal court. Whatever the legal wrangling, the outcome for the building was simple. It left public service, passed into private hands, and sat empty. A 2015 site visit recorded a vandalized interior, broken windows, and the old mobile classroom still resting out back.
What remains today
Cubbage Elementary’s shell still marks the Miracle side of Browney’s Creek. From the road, it looks like many mid-century rural schools in eastern Kentucky: brick walls, a shallow-pitched roof, and the ghost outline of a sign where the school’s name once hung. If you go looking, remember that this is private property. Photograph only from public rights-of-way, and treat the place with the same care you would give a country churchyard.
Why Cubbage matters
Cubbage is a small story that stands for a larger one. Rural schools once doubled as community centers: ballgames, fall programs, election days, and PTA suppers. When enrollment slipped and budgets tightened, buildings like this closed, and a quiet piece of communal life went with them. On Browney’s Creek, the empty classrooms tell that story as clearly as any ledger.
Sources & Further Reading
Black Mountain Energy Corp. v. Bell County Board of Education, 467 F. Supp. 2d 715, E.D. Ky. 2006. Reproduces the 1932 deed language, confirms continuous school use through 2000, and notes the district’s declaration of excess property. CaseMine
Jamie in Wanderland, “Cubbage Elementary School — Bell County, Kentucky,” Nov. 5, 2015. Field photos and notes on enrollment, building layout, location, and post-closure condition. Jamie in Wanderland
Jamie in Wanderland, tag pages referencing Cubbage’s location near KY 987 and 219 and the late-1990s consolidation. Jamie in Wanderland+1
U.S. Board on Geographic Names, entry for Miracle, Bell County, Kentucky (GNIS Feature ID 508617). Confirms community location and naming context. Wikipedia