BLADENBORO — For one full century, a Bladenboro building has stood sentinal over the waxing and waning of the town’s population, education and economy.
In 1893, a private school was established in Bladenboro by Bladenboro First Baptist Church. Under the supervision of Superintendent Sam Ashe, the school operated for eight years before being sold to the public for $650. To mark the transition from private to public, Professor Marshall Shepherd, an educator from Robeson County, was brought in as leader, and under his supervision, enrollment increased.
By 1914, the community decided more was needed. Desiring a school that would offer education for all ages, the residents of Bladenboro voted to institute a tax and borrow money for construction of a new facility. Craven Bridger, Dillon Butler, and a third gentleman with the surname Lennon were appointed to form a committee and supervise the building process.
Classrooms weren’t the only necessity, however. Opened in 1917, the school drew students from not only Bladenboro, but from Whiteville, Dublin and Clarkton as well — many of whom would travel by wagon or buggy on Sunday and return home each Friday. To accommodate students requiring weekday housing, as well as teachers, the old Bladenboro Academy building was relocated from its site beside First Baptist and repurposed as a dormitory for the school.
Things began to take off. Around the same time that the state began supporting public schools, Bladenboro’s economy and industry were booming, and enrollment in the new Farm Life School catapulted. In 1923, two wings were added to the original building, and the name of the institution was changed to Bladenboro School. 1931 saw an additional building constructed in order to house high school students, and the Farm Life School building was used solely as an elementary school.
At its height in the 1930s and 1940s, Bladenboro School’s enrollment topped 1,400, making it the second largest school of its kind in the country, and, when the nation’s largest school in Texas burned to the ground, Bladenboro School stood alone at the top. The school’s boon came to an end, and within four short decades, Bladen County Schools determined the building was no longer needed. The doors were shut and the iconic building slated for destruction.
“It was just an old building,” recounted Bladenboro Historical Society member Ricky Walters. “It needed a new roof and a lot of other repairs, and it just wasn’t feasible to continue to operate it.”
The school board’s plans were not to come to fruition, however. In 1990 in San Diego, Calif., former Farm Life School student and Bladenboro native Helen Norman Trower received a visit from William Butler and heard of the plans to demolish the school. Distraught at the thought, Trower suggested alumni be contacted in order to raise money and restore the building. Thus was born, in 1991, the Bladenboro Historical Society.
After learning state law required school property to be sold at auction, the group contacted North Carolina Congressman Edd Nye, who introduced and saw passed a bill allowing the Board of Education to deed the building to the Historical Society. In 1992, the Society held its first Fun Day, at which it received the deed to the former Farm Life School.
Over the years, the Society and volunteers have created a facility to preserve the history of Bladenboro. Housed in the building are a gift shop, meeting rooms, one business and other areas available for lease, as well as museums dedicated to the former high school, agriculture and farm life, crafts, town history, geneology, art, and the military.
“A lot of work has been done up here,” said Walters. “I wish people knew everything we have, because I think they would really enjoy it.”
More information on the Historical Society or the Farm Life School can be found by visiting bladenborohistoricalsociety.org/.
Chrysta Carroll can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.