History of Schools in Lake Lure

 

By Jim Proctor

 

Lake Lure and the rest of the Chimney Rock Township have been home to many schools, from one room cabins to one of the best high schools outside the county seat. Unfortunately, we had no school from 1961 until 2010. With the opening of the Lake Lure Classical Academy: A Challenge Foundation Academy in 2010, we again have a great, local school.

 

The records of schools for Rutherford County before the Civil War are slim and sketchy, however A. L. Rutker wrote in his autobiography, "The public school system was born in 1842, but was limited to terms of two or three months in which the salary of the teacher ran from $10 to $16 per month. These furnished the only means of securing a rudimentary knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, which embraced the entire curriculum of that period." Mr. Rutker further noted that these one-room school houses were typically made of round logs that were left bare in the summer for ventilation and then chinked closed in the winter time. Because of the Civil War, all schools closed in 1865 and, for the next several years, most schools did not operate.

The first recorded meeting of the Rutherford County School Board was in 1879. There were 106 school districts in the county, 81 white and 25 black. In 1880, the county appropriated 52 cents for each student.

In the early 1900's, the state for the first time set up a fund to help rural counties with their schools. The goal was for each school district to run for at least four months per year. The number of schools in Chimney Rock Township is not clear, but in 1920 Mack Whitesides pushed for the successful vote that created a special school tax and a plan to consolidate the Chimney Rock Township schools. This same year the school year was increased to six months. The new state highway 20 (now US 74A) was under construction, so the new school had to wait until 1922. The school had three classrooms and an auditorium. It was built in what is now the middle of the lake. Two trucks were purchased to transport the students. This school was used until the Lake Lure development started, at which time the school met first at a building near the municipal golf course and then moved to the Logan Inn (now Pine Gables).

In 1926, a magnificent building was constructed at a site just north of what is now Doctor Burch’s office. In keeping with the Spanish colonial style of buildings in Lake Lure, the Lake Lure School had stucco walls, a red tile roof and archways. The school was one of the focal points of the community with a large auditorium and ball fields. At first, the Lake Lure School was only for elementary students, but in 1933 the high school was established and a gymnasium was built.

Mrs. Ann Wilson started teaching at the Lake Lure School in 1951. She remembers that there were more than five hundred students at that time. Ann recalls that the ball teams performed very well for a school their size. The school had baseball, basketball and football teams. Ann’s husband Paul, longtime mayor of Lake Lure, was not only a graduate of the school; he was one of the first student bus drivers in the state. Several former teachers and students said that the food prepared in the cafeteria was especially good.

All was well at the school until 1960 when the county decided it would be best to consolidate schools, and the Lake Lure School was closed. This left Lake Lure and the rest of the Chimney Rock Township without a school for the first time since the 1800's. The abandoned and neglected school building never again saw students and the area lost a vital community focal point and was sorely missed.

At the turn of the century, several citizens of Lake Lure banded together to lobby the county for a new school. The person most active at the beginning of this venture was Bill Frykberg. After almost a decade of trying to convince Rutherford County to build a school near Lake Lure, it became evident the only way we would have a school was to apply for a charter school. On August 21, 2009, the inaugural board of directors of the Lake Lure Classical Academy: A Challenge Foundation Academy (LLCA-CFA) was appointed. The eight founding board members included Philip Byers, Chairman; Jim Proctor, Vice-Chair; Russ Pitts, Treasurer and Chris Braund, Secretary. Other directors include Joan Lange, Cheryl Reinstadler, David Faunce and Bryan King.

In March of 2009, after much work and help from our friends at the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy and the Challenge Foundation, the North Carolina State Board of Education formally approved the charter application for LLCA: CFA. With the charter approved, the board of directors had to work overtime in readying the school for an opening in the fall of 2010. In just six months, the board oversaw the construction of temporary facilities, the hiring of staff, and the enrollment of students. There was excitement in the air as student applications came in and the new school director, Caroline Upchurch, prepared for the first school year.

With tremendous help from the property owners of the old school, George and Hope Wittmer, the new school has temporarily placed modular classrooms at the same location as the old Lake Lure School. In its first year, LLCA: CFA accommodates grades K–7 and will add an additional grade each subsequent year. Though the school will operate out of portable buildings in the early years, Challenge Foundation Properties has been mobilized to support the development of a brand new facility. If you are interested in learning how you can be a part of excellence in education in Lake Lure, please attend one of the board meetings that take place on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. at the school. Alternatively, check out their website for enrollment and employment applications.

Temporary School Site

2520 Memorial Highway
Lake Lure, NC 28746
Mailing Address
PO Box 6
Lake Lure, NC 28746

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lake Lure Classical Academy