Education of Marion County, Tennessee

South Pittsburg High School

Home of the Pirates, South Pittsburg, Tennessee

← Back to Education

Last updated: April 18, 2026

South Pittsburg High School (SPHS) was established in 1924, when the city moved its school program from the 1898 frame building on Cedar Avenue into a new brick building between 7th and 8th Streets (block 39). The Pirates have become one of the most decorated football programs in Tennessee small-school history.

A new brick building (1924)

Before 1924, South Pittsburg's public school was housed in a frame building on Cedar Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets, built in 1898. That building was replaced when the city built a new brick school two blocks south; the 1898 building was subsequently converted into apartments and burned in 1931. The 1924 brick building served both grade and high-school students until a separate modern grammar school opened in 1938.

The first football team and the Marion County rivalry

The 1924 South Pittsburg team was the school's first high-school football squad. Its first game was played against Marion County High School in Jasper, which South Pittsburg won 27–0. The two schools played twice in 1924 and twice in 1925, and the rivalry grew into the second-oldest continuous high-school football series in Tennessee, trailing only Harriman vs. Rockwood, which began in 1921. The eight-mile distance between the two communities inspired the book Eight Hateful Miles. The annual game ended in 2021.

TSSAA football championships

South Pittsburg has won TSSAA football state titles in 1969, 1994, 1999, 2007, 2010, 2021, 2023, and 2025: eight championships in total, among the most in Tennessee small-school history.

Feeder

The school's feeder pattern runs through South Pittsburg Elementary School.

Related

About the city of South Pittsburg →
About Marion County High School (rival) →
About Whitwell High School →
About McReynolds High School →

Sources