ETOWAH VALLEY SCHOOLS 1800s - 1928
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These schools have separate webpages, click on the link:
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Source for schools, year established:
"Early Buncombe-Henderson County Educational Time Line" by Bill Barnwell, HCGHS Henderson County Genealogical & Historical Society, Journal June 2018 Other sources in the following material may cite different years for the school's beginning year. From the Educational Time Line: 1883 - 1884 Henderson County School population 3,443 whites and 568 blacks 40 white schools with 1,448 attending 11 black schools with 249 attending |
How long was a school term In Henderson County? 1860s - 3 1/2 to 4 months 1916 - 6 months 1926 - 8 months |
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"ETOWAH" excerpt from full article:
[bold type is added] " Burns Creek School on the old State Road was the first school built near what is now Etowah. The manner of construction is interesting. Each citizen in the vicinity gave two logs. The building was completed and in use in 1830. The first teacher we have record of was Miss Mary Anne Ward. Two of her students were Teresa Bryson and Caroline Crawford. The latter became one of the well known teachers of the county. No further records of this school are available till about 1864 when Mr. Farmer taught. He continued teaching there about six years. Among his students were Mr. Wm. Ledbetter, whose mother, Mrs. Teresa Bryson Ledbetter, attended the school taught by Miss Mary Anne Ward. The school was discontinued about 1870. The next school house in the Etowah section was Hopewell, a little log building with one log left out for lighting purposes, erected on the Henry place, now known as the Gash place. This building still stands. Here Enoch Anderson taught in 1868-69 followed by J. W. Morgan in 1871-72. This building was used both for church and school. In 1873 a rented house called Watt Cabin was used. Who the teachers were is not known. In 1874 or ’75 Oak Forest, a frame building, one of the best of its time was erected. Here Prof. J. W. Morgan taught, also, and among his students was R. L. Anders, our present County Superintendent of Public Instruction. Some of the other teachers were Richard Pace, Rufus Ray, H.C. Johnson, and Miss Rachel Grees. Later Oak Forest was taken over as a Union Church and school was discontinued there. The Methodist Episcopal Church was built with a school room to one side. Some of the teachers were Rev. Martin Mathison, Miss Fisher, Rev. Pless and Miss Nesbitt. [continued, column right] |
[continued]
In 1914 a tract of land was purchased from J. P. McKinna and a one room building called Etowah School was built. Later two more rooms were added. Some of the teachers there were Rev. Mattison, Nathan Jones and E. L. Justus, Arthur Hamilton, Arthur Picklesimer, E. T. Paraham, Rev. Jesse Morgan, John E. Creech and Miss Emma McCall. In 1927 this building burned, but not till a consolidation of Etowah, Boilston, Big Willow, Pleasant Grove, and a part of Blantyre had been effected. The new building was not ready for use that year, consequently the elementary grades of the consolidating schools were taught in their old school houses. The High School students were transported to Etowah Baptist Church where they were taught by R. W. Jones. The new building, a modern brick building [1928 Etowah High School] having thirteen class rooms, two libraries, study hall and an auditorium was opened for use in September, 1928, with an enrollment of two hundred and eighty-three students and a faculty consisting of R. W. Jones, principal, and ten other teachers. The high school department was accredited in 1928. It has a rating of B. II. The elementary department is not accredited, but is expected to be in 1930. In 1929 Horse Shoe, Yale and part of Jones Gap also consolidated with Etowah. The school year of 1929-30 opened with an enrollment of two hundred and ninety-seven students in the elementary department and one hundred and ten in the high school and a faculty of twelve teachers. Etowah girls have been very successful in athletics, having twice, 1929 and 1930, won in Henderson County Tournament. In 1929 they also won second place in the High school (sic) department of the South Eastern (sic) Tournament composed of winning teams from North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Some of the hopes for 1930 and 1931 are: Improved and beautiful grounds, graded athletic field, accredited elementary school and a Domestic Science Department." |
There is no known image
of the Burns Creek School.
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" Burns Creek School on the old State Road was the first school built near what is now Etowah. ..."
Read more in newspaper article above. Documented Source: "Burns Creek School House" is identified in a Henderson County deed for a property transaction in 1862, deed registered in 1863, sold by Wm Anderson (grantor) to John McClain (grantee). The school is noted in the location description for the property. Book 8, p. 18, Henderson County Register of Deeds. Today, Burns Creek is known as Blythe Creek. |
- Hopewell
(1868 - from the newspaper article above which identifies Enoch Anderson who taught in 1868-69.)
( 1860s - from "History" text published in The Chief, below)
Hopewell School, photo date unknown. Possibly 1950s, same as the photo below.
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"HISTORY OF ETOWAH SCHOOL"
originally printed in "The Chief" 1939 school annual 
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This photo of Hopewell was taken in the 1950's for the 1939 Etowah High School annual, The Chief. In the doorway: Charlie Banks and Jessy Stamey. In the window: Helen Holtzclaw and Ada Dalton.
Photo courtesy of Opal Dalton Parkinson
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"Still sits the schoolhouse by the road
A ragged beggar sunning." "The schoolhouse which Whittier immortalizes in "School Days" must have been similar to the old Hopewell School, that stands in crumbling ruins on the Gash homestead near the Etowah Depot.
In construction Hopewell was similar to the majority of rural schools of that day. It was built of logs and was hardly as large as the average classroom of a modern school building. Besides the door there was no other source of light and air except a small opening in one end. On cold, disagreeable days it was necessary to close both the door and window, thus practically excluding air and light. The building was heated by a large fireplace. Desks such as are used today were unknown then. Instead, rough hewn logs split in half and set on stilts were used as seats. The blackboard was a small pine board blacked with lamp black. There was no other teaching device. However, each child had his own slate which was put to good use. The earliest facts about this old school date back to the late sixties. [1860s] During this period a school term was three and one-half to four months. The school fund, raised by a tax on property, was often supplemented by subscriptions. At Hopewell, free board was regarded as a supplement to the teacher's salary. There was no limit to a school district. Anybody who desired and who was able to walk to school was enrolled. Many walked as far as four or five miles. In the fall of 1871, Mr. James Wilson Morgan, a young man from Buncombe County, was engaged as teacher at Hopewell. His two predecessors had been run off by obstreperous students, therefore, the school fund had accumulated and Mr. Morgan was give a four months term. The enrollment was well over a hundred, but many, lacking depth of purpose and a real thirst for knowledge, soon dropped out. However, the daily attendance was frequently high as ninety. The course of study consisted of the three "R's"; the blue-back speller being taught in connection with reading. Webster's Dictionary was regarded as an undisputed authority in vocabulary building. Usually, a child learned his ABC's at home and was ready for reading the first day. Certain prevailing customs of the old schools were an integral part of the Hopewell school. Every Friday afternoon each child was expected to recite a "speech." Often these programs, to which parents were invited, included spelling bees and debates. The exhibition given by the pupils on the closing night was, perhaps, the most enjoyable occasion of the school year. These programs consisted of speeches, dialogues, plays, songs, and violin and banjo music. Unlike his predecessors, Mr. Morgan evidently gave the patrons of Hopewell good reason to "hope," and before another school year rolled around plans were under way for the removal of the school from Hopewell to a site approximately a mile nearer the river and which was to be known as Oak Forest School. When time came to start the new year [fall 1872], Oak Forest was still under construction and a nearby cabin on the place of Watt Hadden was used as the school house for a few weeks. This was known as Watt's Cabin. Oak Forest was soon completed and the remaining school term was taught there. [a term was 3 1/2 - 4 months] [continued, right] |
[continued]
Mr. Morgan taught at Hopewell and Oak Forest for seven terms. The upward trend of the school here began with his coming as a teacher in 1871. The old schools, although greatly handicapped, were the foundations upon which our present schools have been built. The schools have been enlarged as need demanded. Among the pupils taught by Mr. Morgan at Oak Forest was one who went there for his first school, and who has since then followed largely in Mr. Morgan's footsteps. That pupil was the present Supt. of Public Instruction, R. G. Anders. Oak Forest was used as a school site for about thirty years. [1872 - around 1902] For many years the equipment was similar to that used at Hopewell. With the beginning of Governor Aycock's administration, a new day dawned for the public schools. His creed was that every child is entitled to a good school; every young man or young woman, who wishes it, to a good college. Soon a library was placed in the Etowah School and modern equipment began gradually to replace the old. The school term was increased to six months in 1917; it was increased to eight months in 1926. Early in the century, Rev. M. A. Matheson, who had previously taught at Oak Forest, taught for two or three terms in the Methodist Church. At this time one of the teachers was supported by the county and the other by subscription. One winter the County Superintendent of Public Instruction permitted Mr. Matheson to have a Teachers' Institute in connection with his school. About this time an unsuccessful attempt was made to establish a church school here. Probably before 1910 a public school building was erected near the Methodist Church. This building was used until it was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1929. This building was used until it was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1929. This was a grammar school and boys and girls went away to boarding schools for the high school course. In 1928, a great forward step was taken in the educational system of Etowah, when the Horse Shoe, Rhymer, Pleasant Grove, Big Willow and Boylston schools were consolidated with Etowah, and the present modern building was erected. Mr. Ralph W. Jones has served efficiently as principal since opening of the high school. In 1928-1929, while the new building was under construction, the high school classes were taught in the Baptist Church. Mr. and Mrs. Jones were the teachers and there were only six graduates of the first class. The children of the grammar grades remained at the various elementary schools of the district until the opening of the 1929-1930 session. At the present there are fourteen in the faculty. Besides the regular academic courses of study, courses in vocational agriculture and home economics are taught. There are one hundred and fourteen students in the high school and three hundred and sixty-one in the grammar grades. Twenty-four seniors are being graduated this year. According to the old proverb, "We judge a tree by its fruit", we may judge the efficiency of a school by its Alumni. One hundred and fifty-four graduates have found places of usefulness in various communities of our state. Several of these, after completing courses in higher institutions of learning, are making names for themselves in the teaching profession. There are among the students of several southern colleges former Etowah students who, by the quality of their work, are reflecting credit upon their Alma Mater. " |
Where was HOPEWELL located? Here are the references to date. Also, photos below.
1. The next school house in the Etowah section was Hopewell, a little log building with one log left out for lighting purposes, erected on the Henry place, now known as the Gash place." Times-News, January 29, 1932, article above.
2. According to "The Chief 1939" school annual, Hopewell was located "on the Gash homestead near the Etowah Depot." This source is the best information currently available.
3. A newspaper article (Western Carolina Tribune ?, date unknown) includes the following reference: "Fifty-five years ago the schoolhouse stood on the hill just west of the Gash place and was a log building about 20 feet long by 10 feet wide, one doorway in the west side, with a log left out on the east side to give light. Slabs were used for benches and a fire place to supply heat."
4. Personal recollections from Etowah families point to a location along Eade Road, on Little Mountain. See photos below.
Additional research is in progress that may further identify a specific deed to locate the school site. Eade Rd has changed as years have passed.
1. The next school house in the Etowah section was Hopewell, a little log building with one log left out for lighting purposes, erected on the Henry place, now known as the Gash place." Times-News, January 29, 1932, article above.
2. According to "The Chief 1939" school annual, Hopewell was located "on the Gash homestead near the Etowah Depot." This source is the best information currently available.
3. A newspaper article (Western Carolina Tribune ?, date unknown) includes the following reference: "Fifty-five years ago the schoolhouse stood on the hill just west of the Gash place and was a log building about 20 feet long by 10 feet wide, one doorway in the west side, with a log left out on the east side to give light. Slabs were used for benches and a fire place to supply heat."
4. Personal recollections from Etowah families point to a location along Eade Road, on Little Mountain. See photos below.
Additional research is in progress that may further identify a specific deed to locate the school site. Eade Rd has changed as years have passed.
Opal Dalton Parkinson stands at a site along Eade Rd in Etowah identified as the location of Hopewell School, Etowah's first one-room school. The old barn in the background is for reference only.
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At the identified location of Hopewell. L to R: Opal Dalton Parkinson, Marylin Jones Thomas, Jean Wells Huggins, Janice Greer Sumner. Photos courtesy of Tommy Moffitt
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[see also, "The question of different dates" - below] 
Oak Forest School stood across the road from present day Oak Forest Cemetery . The school was used for 30 years. The school site (parcel on right) is part of the Oak Forest Cemetery.
"... containing 2 acres more or less to have and to hold and to allow to be used for educational purposes and for divine worship by all orthodox churches ..." [Deed made 1876, Registered 1891, Book 28, pg. 202, Henderson County Register of Deeds] Oak Forest School was also used by the Ravenscroft Episcopal Mission from 1899 - 1906. |
J. Wilson Morgan standing at the doorway Oak Forest School, year unknown. Note the sign above the door, also in photo at left.
"James Wilson Morgan was a pioneer teacher in Henderson County, an outstanding educator, who helped to bring the school system here to an advanced stage."
Source: "A History of Etowah United Methodist Church" by Bernice Richardson Thomas, 1997 |
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LtoR, Wynn Morgan & Roy Allison standing on the site of the Oak Forest School, 2014
Henderson County GIS Map for Oak Forest Cemetery. Parcel on right is site of the old Oak Forest School.
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When was Oak Forest School established?
1876 is the date of the Deed on record. 1876 Deed Made / 1891 Deed Registered Book 28, Page 202 Henderson County Register of Deeds There are a number of additional sources: 1872 "History of Etowah School" printed in the 1939 school annual. [above] 1874 or 1875 Times-News article, January 29, 1932 (above) 1880 - in text about Hopewell, right 1899 School was used by Ravenscroft Episcopal Mission to hold services from 1899 - 1906. 1900 A commemorative plate showing Etowah's schools, pictured below. |
1880
See text of paragraph two, in "The Heritage of Henderson County, North Carolina, Volume I, 1985" - Henderson County Genealogical & Historical Society. |
- Etowah "Colored School" *
Located along Joshua Ridge Road off Holly Springs Road, area of Ivy Knob.
* Respectfully, the term "colored" was the common word used during this time period.
For historic accuracy alone, the school is represented as such.
This cabin once served as Etowah's "Colored School" for a period of time beginning in late 1896 or 1897. In 1924 the School Board of Henderson County sold the property to J. V. Blythe for $30 (Deed registered 1925). After several subsequent owners, the property became part of a larger parcel and was purchased by Glenn & Alice Maxwell in 1947.
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Deed Information: One acre more or less, Indenture (legal agreement) made Sept 19, 1896 sold by A W Sitton and wife M L Sitton to School Committee No 10 of Henderson County, for $10 "to Perry Smith, Thomas Gash and Henry Lynch School Committee of District No. 10 for the Col race of Henderson County" Sept 21, 1896 - witnessed and private seal by J. L. Gash (James Leander), Justice of the Peace October 7, 1896 - registered with Clerk of Superior Court October 9, 1896 - filed and registered with Register of Deeds, Book 35, Page 388 |
Glenda Maxwell Simpson recalls her childhood memories
of the old cabin that once served as Etowah's "Colored School."
of the old cabin that once served as Etowah's "Colored School."
Glenda Maxwell Simpson standing on the site of the former "Colored School." Glenda's parents, purchased the property with the old school building in 1947.
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We moved to Etowah, NC in 1947 when I was about 15 months old! My father Glenn C. Maxwell & Alice Helen Crook Maxwell moved our family of 4 there from West Asheville. My father was an Army Veteran and after getting out of the service wanted a place out in the country away from the city life! I am sure when they found this place my mom thought my father had moved her to the ends of the earth!
We have many good memories of living in this “little colored school house”. This little house/school had 3 rooms consisting of a long kitchen, a living room & one bedroom. No running water, no bathroom, as all homes have today! No outside toilet so my Dad had to dig one and build a building around it! We carried water from a well down in the holler that had a hand pump that you had to prime the pump to get the water started coming out to fill your buckets. Then you had to climb up the long path to the house and try not to spill the water! I can remember my Mom would carry 2 five gallon buckets while my sister and I carried the little gallon lard buckets equal to a gallon up the hill and sloshing water out as we went. I guess by the time we got to the top of the trail we probably had a bucket with very little water in it! Read more of Glenda's Story . . . |
Located on Brickyard Road, behind the current Etowah Library, across from the Methodist church. 
The old pump handle, now missing.
"The Heritage of Henderson County, North Carolina, Vol 1, 1985," pub. H C Genealogical & Historical Society. Note: Date of 1921 is incorrect.
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The Henderson County Board of Education purchased two acres from James Perry McKinna and Dollie McKinna, his wife, on April 8, 1914 for $175. The property was to be used for a school on Brickyard Road directly across from the Methodist Church. The Methodist Church was used for additional classrooms. Four of the known [first] teachers were Jennedie Maffitt, Wright Blythe, Miss Thelma Blythe, and Rev. M. A. Matheson. The school building had two classrooms; no library, no office, no auditorium, no storage - just a two room structure. A well with a hand pump was the water supply.
This school included grades one through seven. Mrs. Jennedie Blythe and Miss Thelma Blythe taught the first grade. Mary Orpin taught grades two, three and four. Earnest Lee ustus, a graduate of University of NC at Chapel Hill, taught grades five, six and seven. At the beginning of school he drove a horse and wagon to Hendersonville to get supplies. A large chalk board, a box of chalk, erasers, brooms, a water bucket, dipper and a register for each teacher were the supplies. Students were encouraged to attend a subscription school for 1 week for fifty cents at the Methodist Church. This was a shape note school - also called "Christian Harmony" where students learned do-re-me-fa-so-la-ti-do. This was the only music training students may have received. In October 1921 a young nine year old boy, Carl Ray, who was a student at Etowah School fell from a persimmon tree in Mr. Wesley Allen's yard on Turnpike Road and died from head injuries. The entire school marched to Oak Forest Cemetery for his service and burial. Etowah Elementary (on Brickyard) was destroyed by fire in the spring of 1929. History by Janice Greer Sumner for HCEHI, 2014 Information sources: Henderson County Deed Book 82, pgs. 374-375; Heritage of Henderson County NC, Vol. 1, pg 19; Personal family letters of Woodrow W. Greer, 1970 - 1989. |
The school was located on property behind the Etowah Library.
Feb: In 1914, the County Board of Education chose a site for a new school in Etowah - located on Brickyard Road, behind today's Library, and across from the Methodist church - the McKinna property.
"...will on Saturday, February 14 go to Etowah to locate a sit[e] for the $600 school building to be erected there before the opening of next term. There was no public school at Etowah during the past year as it was deemed advisable to save the funds for building purposes. The children had advantages in subscription schools. School was held in the Methodist school house during the last two years as the public school building was too dilapidated for school purposes." March: "County Superintendent W. S. Shitle was in our burg last week in the interest of locating the public school building, which is expected to be completed for the opening of the fall term of school."
April: "For some time school has been held in the Northern Methodist school house owing to the dilapidated condition of the one belonging to the county."
[The "dilapidated" school is mentioned in both the Feb and April news articles - most likely, a reference to Oak Forest.] |
1914 News about School on Brickyard Road
Western Carolina Democrat & French Broad Hustler Articles are transcribed on left.
April 16, 1914
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The following text is printed on the back of the commemorative plate. In 2002, the 1928 historic school was demolished and replaced with a new school. (dates in text below are not consistent with the above "History." "In 1871 Hopewell School was opened in Etowah. In 1900 a new school was opened called Oak Forest. About 1910 Oak Forest was replaced with a new school. In 1928 the present building was opened for grades one through eleven. In 1960 the high school students were moved to West Henderson High School. In 1973 the junior high students were moved to Rugby Junior High School. It is now Etowah Elementary School." |
Commemorative Plate for Schools of Etowah. Courtesy of Opal Parkinson.
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"Hopewell" - by Wanda Sumner Love
"Oak Forest" - by Janice Greer Sumner
"Etowah" (on Brickyard) - by Janice Greer Sumner
"Oak Forest" - by Janice Greer Sumner
"Etowah" (on Brickyard) - by Janice Greer Sumner
Thank you to everyone who has provided material on Etowah's schools.