A Century of Schools in Cumberland County: 1850 - 1950
Chronology of Schools in Fayetteville & Cumberland County
1794 School established in the village of Fayetteville
1799 Fayetteville Academy for Males & Females incorporated
1831 First school building on Green Street burned
1832 Donaldson Academy incorporated
1832 A kindergarten opened in Fayetteville
1839 Fayetteville Female Seminary advertises it has enrolled eighty-four pupils. Classes taught include Latin, French, arithmetic, geometry, English grammar and geography
1846 The North Carolina Public School system begins. Cumberland county receives $1,915 from the state for school year ending September 1, 1846
1849 Long Street Academy established as a preparatory school
1854 Fayetteville Female Seminary opens
1866 One room log cabin school for children opens in Wade
1867 Public school education begins for Negroes at the Howard School on Gillespie Street
1878 Graded schools established in summer of 1878. Funds for their support is raised by subscriptions
1885 44 public schools for white children and 46 for African American children
1897 P.N. Melchor (African American) appointed to School Board
1900 Committee on Education appointed by Fayetteville Mayor W. S. Cook
1903 B.T. McBride elected Superintendent of Cumberland County Schools
1905 First year pupil report cards used in Cumberland County
1909 Four rural high schools established -- Hope Mills, Stedman, Godwin, and Eastover
1911 By an act of the General Assembly the name of the Cross Creek Graded Schools changed to The Fayetteville Graded Schools
1911 John A. Oates elected chairman of the school board
1915 Orange Street School opens
1916 Anne Chestnutt Waddell succeeds Maude Scurlock as Jeanes Supervisor of Cumberland County Negro Schools
1919 The Parent-Teacher Association organized
1919 Six public schools located in the Seventy First and Manchester Townships are sold to the U.S. government due to the establishment of Camp Bragg
1923 Cade Hill School opens for American Indian youth
1923 Massey Hill School opens
1931 Due to economic conditions, the school year is shortened from nine months to six months
1935 Armstrong High School, the county's first high school for Negro students is constructed
1936 Beginning of consolidation of county Negro schools
1936 Mae Rudd Williams appointed Jeanes Supervisor of Negro Schools
1939 E. E. Smith High School is built with PWA and local school bond funds
1940 Construction begins on Fort Bragg's first school building
1945 All Negro teachers in Cumberland County hold "A" certificates
1950 County begins supervisory program in white schools. Reba Proctor elected General Supervisor
To see photos and additional history of schools in Cumberland County, click School Name Finder near the top of this page.
