Our community has a long educational history, with the first schoolhouse being built before the Civil War. Even back then, they knew the importance of education and tried to provide their children with knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as those life skills necessary to survive. As the years passed, these elements became more refined as their needs became more apparent. As they grew, so did their need for larger buildings and higher levels of education for a growing population.    

       In 1895, the community saw a need to establish a larger, better facility than had ever been possible. Again, the community united to achieve this goal.  Land was donated, trees cut and the Bald Creek community donated all materials and labor to help build a greater school. Finally, in 1907, Bald Creek provided Yancey County's first high school.
      

    In addition to the local students, the early twenties found a large number of boarding students from Madison County, Little Switzerland, Relief, and other areas arriving up to take advantage of our facility.  Another building was soon added to house elementary students. During this time, logging and associated businesses provided work for hundreds of people. In the mid-twenties, most of the area became devoid of trees and people had to look elsewhere for work. Then, in 1929, the stock market crashed and we went into the Great Depression.

In the early part of the 1930's, President Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to help our country recover from the Great Depression. The WPA provided needed jobs for many people, and as a result, Yancey County benefited from the building of several schools. Bald Creek was one of these. Built in 1938, this historic school still provides a wonderful learning environment for our students and stands strong as a tribute to what Americans can achieve.


We who learn and teach here are proud of its history and are grateful to be Bald Creek Eagles.