Denton School History / Photos

  [photos below]      Research by Bert Lanier The first school building ever erected at Denton was built in 1886, on a spacious lot purchased from A. A. Snider. This building, which stood where the high school's parking lot now is, was paid for mainly, if not entirely, by Dr. A. Anderson, Robert Tysinger, Andrew J. Buie, and Jacob Skeen. It was about 22 by 40 feet in size, was built of good pine lumber, complete with belfry and front porch, in the~ style of those days, and was considered a credit to the community. The first schools taught in this building were private undertakings, and no records showing the number of pupils or the length of the various terms are now extant. 

   In 1894 the county board of education took steps to form a public school district around the schoolhouse, and appointed James Asbury Snider, Alexander A. Snider and William H. Garner as the new district's first committee. The first teacher employed by this committee was a young man from Trinity, in Randolph County, Charles W. Briles, whose work was so satisfactory that the committee was glad to employ him for a second term. Briles subsequently became the first Superintendent of Public Instruction in the State of Oklahoma. 

   Following Mr. Briles, the next public school at Denton seems to have been taught by B. I. Harrison, who according to local tradition, rendered good service. 

 In the fall of 1897, the boundaries of the district having been enlarged, a tall sandy-haired schoolmaster, a former resident of Kernersville and a graduate of Oak Ridge Institute, J. A. Stone, came to Denton, taught the public school and a short-term private school at the end of the public term. Stone's work met with such approval that he decided to establish an academy capable of pre- paring young men and women for college. Accordingly, in January, 1898, Stone purchased from Robert Tysinger, then sole owner, all the land included in and known as the school grounds, which lay on both sides of the Salisbury Road, and proceeded to erect what was locally considered a fine "academy," a two-story structure; 40 by 60 feet in size, with porch and portico on the south front, with duplex stairways that led to the auditorium. Painted white and trimmed in yellow, it was almost certainly the finest rural school building in Davidson County, with the exception of the brick building at Yadkin College. 

    For the first term in the new building, Principal Stone employed as assistant principal a young graduate of Wake Forest College, J. 0. Purnell. He also employed two other teachers, one for music and one for primary work. 

    Pupils came in from miles around, and several others came from a longer distance and boarded with local families. At the first commencement (or rather exhibition, since there were no graduates to commence), which was held in May, 1899, a long program of recitations and declamations was rendered, and the literary address (according to an old program) was delivered by the Hon. Theodore F. Kluttz, lawyer, orator, and Congressman from Salisbury. The largest crowd ever seen in Denton up to that time was present, there was a brass band to enliven the festivities, dinner on the grounds, and a good time was apparently enjoyed by all present. 

    The next fall the Institute opened with the same number of teachers, a fairly good enrollment, and during the fall term appeared to be doing good work. A dormitory-and-teacher's home was started and almost completed during 1899-1900, and until sometime after Christmas the outlook for the Institute seemed to be good. 

    But sometime after Christmas, for some reason, which is now not clear, attendance fell off, and as Mr. Stone was rather heavily in debt for his new buildings, and as some of his creditors were pressing him for payment, he was confronted with a difficult situation. Much worried over the situation, Stone suddenly left the community one day in February, 1900, without telling anyone his destination. When he returned a few weeks later, the school had been closed, his teachers had left, and Stone soon found that he had lost many of his former friends. 

     The next fall Stone was unable to open his Denton Institute, and there was no more teaching on the high school level at Denton until the fall of 1906, when the Rev. George L. Reynolds took charge of the academic building and founded a private institution known as Denton High School. Subsequently there were two other schools of particular interest that were used before the County bought the Reynolds property and turned it into a County School. 

    The first was a log building on the south end of the lot where the present Legion hut now stands. The second building was across the street, located where the Terrell Trailer Park now stands. This building had both primary and high school facilities. R. C. Powell later converted it into an attractive private house.

                                                                                   View more Denton School Memory Photos Here...............

No pubic schools existed In Davidson county south of U.S. 64 in 1907. BI Harrison ran for a seat on the Davidson County Board of Education with his platform devoted to bringing a free school to Denton. He won a seat in 1907 and served 3 years on that board, accomplishing his goal of getting a public school in Denton NC. The school did not open until 1912 but the county was obligated to build the school. He chose not to run in 1911, as the trip to Lexington took one and a half days by horse and buggy and he felt that he had done what he had set out to do.

Info by: Jim Harrison , grandson of BI Harrison

 First Public School

 First High School Denton NC

 First High School Denton NC

 First High School Denton NC

 This Photo taken 1969 DHS

 Aerial view Denton school

Denton School Bus  1941

 early 40s school bus

View Denton School Memory  Album Photos Here...............

South Davidson High School replaced Denton High School in 1989located 3 miles north of denton on hwy. 109

 Photos taken 2011

Denton High School - I was just thinking… about the “NEW SCHOOL”! by Wayne Miller

 It is hard for us old-timers to believe, but the ”NEW” South Davidson High School is now well into its twenty-sixth year. (The “OLD” Denton High School building that I first entered as a sophomore in 1953 was only twenty-four!)  How the years do roll along, and that rolling prompts me to make a few comparisons and contrasts between the two schools. Since I was at SDHS for only six years before my retirement, my store of memories, while fully happy and exciting, are not as extensive as those memories of Denton. First of all, let’s look at South Davidson from about 1987 forward. Talk had been circulating for quite some time about a new high school. A merger with Central Davidson had failed back in the 1970s, and the old building continued to require extensive repairs. Every square foot of the old building was used, often sub-divided, and re-purposed. My own office as guidance counselor occupied at least six different places, and our first art program met in five different locations. Old as it was, DHS was never a static school; it changed with the times. New programs and new technology kept demanding updates and adaptations, until at last the computer entered the scene, and the old girl could not keep pace with the need for space and electrical accommodations.

   Under the leadership of Principal Jim Carpenter the push was on for a new facility to serve Denton and Silver Valley. The new South Davidson would give faculty and students alike the space and comfort to pursue new courses, new programs, new horizons. Gone were the steamy, overheated rooms that sometimes went cold in the wintertime; gone, too, were the rooms with no air conditioning that sweltered in the early fall and late spring sending teacher and student thoughts and attention to mere survival rather than to the classes in session.

   When word came that we would indeed get a new school, emotions ran high…some were very eager to leave; some, more hesitant and sad. The same thing happened in 1929 when the “old” school opened as the “new” school, and students were to move across the road from the big building to the brand-spanking new one built and paid for by the community of Denton. The senior class was very upset at the move because they loved the old building and did not want to graduate from the new one after only a month or two. (I know this to be a fact because my mother, Alta Lanier at the time, was one of those students. Buren Grice, father of Sheriff David S. Grice, was another; Harold Bisher, father of Ann B. Cook, was another.) Nevertheless, the move was made, and twenty-four years later, I came along to enjoy the next (and final) thirty-six years of its life.

   Excitement reigned from the first announcement of the new South, to the land acquisition, to the ground-breaking with fanfare, to the design of the new building (which, by the way, faculty and staff were able to give much input).

   As the buildings rose from the muddy farmland, faculty could not stay away. They visited during construction to “spy” on the progress of their departments.

   The big day finally arrived, and students, faculty, and staff loaded up all belongings, supplies, etc. and moved up the road to settle in their new home. Decisions had already been made regarding our new mascot (the Wildcat, replacing the Red Raider), new colors (royal blue and silver gray instead of red, white, and black), the new yearbook (the Lair replacing the Phoenix), and the school newspaper, The Dentonian has become Cat Chat.

   Everything “Denton” was suddenly relegated to the past, and memories of the old school were cherished as the old building was demolished later in 1989. A few photos serve to jog my memory of the days leading up to “the move”. One of my favorites has Natasha Bingham, Laura Lanier, Daniel Walker, and teacher/coach Ashley Perdue sitting atop the lockers in the main hallway. Daniel sports a fancy mustache and beard to enhance his image as an “older” student. All three of these youngsters went on to become distinguished graduates of South Davidson High.

   Other photos show students looking wistfully out of the break room/former auditorium windows as if getting the view firmly fixed in their minds. I was guilty of the same as I thought back through many years in that same room, of my schoolmates gathered around the piano during lunchtime singing what were then old, old songs. (Today’s kids would not even recognize them! For example, anyone remember “In the Evening by the Moonlight”? …thought not!) We had glee club in that room, chapel programs, class play practices, talent shows, cheerleader tryouts, movies, graduations, historic TV programs (such as the funeral of President Kennedy), and later on it was divided into student break/recreation room, concession stand, supply room, classrooms, copy room for teachers, and guidance office. Yes, the wrecking crew came, and DHS went down in a cloud of dust. But some things the wreckers could not destroy: memories of happy times, of students jumping out of classroom windows to run downtown for a hot dog or candy bar or perhaps an orangeade from the old drug store, of movies in the Anchor Theater and class groups walking down to see them, of homecoming parades from the school through town and back again (complete with student-made floats), of attending Easter services at the local churches and Baccalaureate services each year at graduation, of May Day programs on the front lawn complete with May pole and crowning of the May king and queen, of banquets and proms in the cafeteria and gym with out-of-this-world decorations and with parents cooking and serving and chaperoning, of class plays each year with hillbilly comedy a favorite and heavy drama trailing far behind, of students getting teachers off the subject and everyone enjoying the fun, of foosball and ping pong tournaments, of air hockey games, of the first drink machines installed in the school that dispensed bottled sodas, and the memories go on and on and on….

   At the new South, faculty and staff wasted no time in getting settled, and with the multi-talented music instruction staff leading the fun, EVERYONE got involved in the “musical christening” of the new school: “Time and Time Again”! It was a smash hit presented to county officials and school board and to the general public. (I still have my VHS tape of the performance….anyone remember what a VHS tape is?) Obviously, county school officials were impressed by this spirited bunch, and they were quick to invite the group to open the 1989-90 school year countywide teachers’ meeting at Finch Auditorium in Thomasville. BIG opportunity….BIG stage…and the South Davidson staff came through in a BIG way: an original rap presentation complete with Electric Slide dance routine. (Don’t remember if we ever had another countywide meeting, but we had a BALL!)

   1989-90! This would be the first full year for a class graduating from South, and it begins under a new principal, Steve Greene. Mr. Greene was a much-loved principal with solid values and a burning desire to improve his students in every way possible. His example has inspired others who followed, and South Davidson continues its tradition of excellent scholarship in all curricula, great athletic programs, top-notch music and art departments, and opportunities for personal growth.

   In talking with former students of DHS, I always remind them of the “family” relationship we shared while there. That type of relationship hopefully has transferred to South and will continue to strengthen as the years pass. The DNA is the same, as I like to tell them. I am guessing that a large percentage of the students at South have parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles who went to Denton High or Silver Valley Elementary.

   Long live South Davidson High School and long live the memory of Denton High!

   Until next time…God bless…and…I’ll be thinking!   Mr. Wayne Miller      #DentonNC #denton