Henderson County Education History Initiative

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Henderson County Education History Initiative Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Henderson County Education History Initiative, Museum, 414 Fourth Avenue West, Hendersonville, NC.

The Henderson County Education History Initiative will methodically seek, collect and organize all known information about education in Henderson County, so that an accurate history can be documented, preserved and made available in accessible forms.

We are finishing off the schools that started with “C” for this week’s “Schools Gone By.”The Western NC Times in 1926 me...
10/07/2026

We are finishing off the schools that started with “C” for this week’s “Schools Gone By.”

The Western NC Times in 1926 mentioned a “County Summer School” that opened before 1921, but so far, that is the only record we have of said school.

The Crab Creek School was a one room school house prior to 1904. 40 students could sit, and they went to school for four months with one teacher. The second school had two rooms and sat 120 with six months of school and two teachers. In 1914, the school burned down due to a fire originating from a defective flue. In 1915, a new one-room school was built to replace the destroyed one. In 1933, the school was sold to C.C. Rundell.

There was also a Crab Creek Black School, but so far the only mention of it we have recorded is in The Western NC Times in 1903.

Finally, the Cross Roads School was a feeder school to the Tuxedo Graded School.

We are always happy to work with the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center to help digitize Henderson County yearbooks!
10/01/2026

We are always happy to work with the North Carolina Digital Heritage Center to help digitize Henderson County yearbooks!

"Schools Gone By"The following are a few more schools with little to no information beyond their name. Nothing beyond th...
09/30/2026

"Schools Gone By"

The following are a few more schools with little to no information beyond their name.

Nothing beyond the name is known about the Chesnut Hill Episcopal School.

The Clear Creek School, also known as the Barnwell School, started before the Civil War and was a feeder school to Edneyville Graded School.

There was also a Clear Creek Black School that as a feeder school to the Sixth Avenue School.

For a time, there was a Christian Home and Bible Institute under the supervision of Reverend George F. Wright. The Institute was at the residence of D.S. Pace, pictured here.

This week's "Schools Gone By:"The Cedar Springs School existed from 1892-1932 at the intersection of Rock Creek Road and...
09/23/2026

This week's "Schools Gone By:"

The Cedar Springs School existed from 1892-1932 at the intersection of Rock Creek Road and Green River Road (pictured here). This school was a feeder school to the Tuxedo Graded School. In 1913, an article in the French Broad Hustler stated that the school was getting new desks and seats. The same article states that the county has 65 schools (55 white and 9 black) with an enrollment of 5,881. However, the average daily attendance for all schools was only 1,772! 84 teachers were employed in the county, with 90% of those being female.

The Chestnut Grove School, also known as Bearwallow School, was two miles south of the crest of Bearwallow Mountain and was a feeder school to Edneyville Graded School. Sometime in the 1920s, the one-room school house made of pine timber and cedar shingles was destroyed by fire.

We hope to see you at the Preservation Room this afternoon for the Open House! Follow the signs around the back of the b...
09/19/2026

We hope to see you at the Preservation Room this afternoon for the Open House! Follow the signs around the back of the building to find us.

Tomorrow!Come one, come all to the 2nd Annual HCEHI Open House!Join us in the Preservation Room next Saturday, September...
09/18/2026

Tomorrow!

Come one, come all to the 2nd Annual HCEHI Open House!

Join us in the Preservation Room next Saturday, September 19 from 2-4 PM to check out the amazing collection of school memorabilia. This event is free and open to the public.

Did you know that for a brief time there was a naval academy in Henderson County? From 1919 to 1924, the Carolina Milita...
09/16/2026

Did you know that for a brief time there was a naval academy in Henderson County? From 1919 to 1924, the Carolina Military-Naval Academy operated from the Highland Lake property. Col. John Woodward, founder of the Georgia Military Academy, was looking for a location in the mountains for a summer program for his school which evolved into a year-round academy.

Frank FitzSimons writes, “It was a preparatory school where boys from the deep South could get their education in our health giving mountains. The boys had their choice of either military or naval training. The school was always referred to by the local people as ‘C.M.N.A.’ There were some exciting football games in Hendersonville, as there was keen rivalry between C.M.N.A., Blue Ridge School for Boys, and the Hendersonville High School. These games were finally discontinued because they generally ended in riots and free for all fights between the supporters of the three schools.” (FitzSimons, From the Banks of the Oklawaha).

For more information about this school, Patrick Gallagher wrote a great article in the September 2025 journal for the Henderson County Genealogical and Historical Society titled “Highland Lake and the John C. Woodward Family 1919-1946.”

Come one, come all to the 2nd Annual HCEHI Open House!Join us in the Preservation Room next Saturday, September 19 from ...
09/12/2026

Come one, come all to the 2nd Annual HCEHI Open House!

Join us in the Preservation Room next Saturday, September 19 from 2-4 PM to check out the amazing collection of school memorabilia. This event is free and open to the public.

"Schools Gone By": Brickton Black School, Brittain's School, Bunker Hill SchoolThe Brickton Black School, pictured here,...
08/26/2026

"Schools Gone By": Brickton Black School, Brittain's School, Bunker Hill School

The Brickton Black School, pictured here, was a two-room school located near Butler Bridge, erected around 1930. The school was closed in 1952.

We have little to no information about the following two schools:
Brittain’s School was also known as Union Hill School and was a feeder school to Dana Graded School.

In Bill Barnwell’s "Early Buncombe-Henderson County Educational Time Line" for the Henderson County Genealogical & Historical Society in 2018, he notes a Bunker Hill School around the year 1852, but that is the only reference we have found to that school.

"Schools Gone By:" Boylston, Bowen Hill, Bowman's Bluff Black SchoolThe Boylston (also spelled Boilston) School (picture...
08/19/2026

"Schools Gone By:" Boylston, Bowen Hill, Bowman's Bluff Black School

The Boylston (also spelled Boilston) School (pictured here) was located on Hwy 280 beside Boylston Baptist Church Cemetery. It served as a feeder school to Mills River Graded School.

Bowen Hill School was a private school in the 1880s taught by Miss Diana Bowen in her old home, The Cedars Annex.

There is evidence of a Bowman’s Bluff Black School, but we have no information about it. Reminder: Throughout this series, if anyone has information or records from an old school, please share it with the HCEHI Preservation Room.

Address

414 Fourth Avenue West
Hendersonville, NC
28739

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 1pm
Wednesday 9am - 1pm

Telephone

+18286974733

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