Asheville School - Blue and White Yearbook (Asheville, NC)

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I for baseball, football, soccer football, tennis, golf, and other sports; and a large tract is densely wooded. Within two miles, north and south, mountains rise to a height of four thousand feet. On the east is the range of the Black Mountains culminating in Mt. Mitchell, six thou- sand seven hundred feet in altitude, the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. On the west are the Balsam Mountains and ranges of the Blue Ridge, with Mt. Pisgah, rising to an elevation of five thousand seven hundred feet. Ii5l

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ates of Asheville, was put in control. The Board, made up of twenty-one members, is self-perpetuating, and under the new charter is conducting the School as a non-profit corporation. T To select a location best fulfilling the conditions desired, country east of the Mississippi River and were convinced that the mountain region of western North Carolina, known as “The Land of the Sky,” surpassed all others. They chose, therefore, a site near Asheville, eminently suitable for a school. -I— XTl. 1 X w the founders studied carefully the This region is noted for its climate. Since it has an alti- tude of twenty-three hundred feet above sea-level, its atmosphere is clear and dry, and there are recorded here more sunny days than in any other locality in the eastern part of the United States. The autumn weather is delightful and continues well into the winter, which, though short, is cold and bracing. In winter the air is so dry and the sunshine so constant as to make outdoor life pleasant at all times. From the first of March to the first of July the weather is mild and invigorating, and during this period there are few hot, sultry days. Even in midsummer the nights are cool. Accessibility Asheville is situated half-way between Lake Erie and the Gulf of Mexico, and is reached by the through trains of the Southern Railway from New York via Philadel- phia, Baltimore, and Washington; from Cincinnati; from Atlanta; from New Orleans; and from Jacksonville. It is, therefore, easy of access from all parts of the country; and Pullmans, direct to Asheville, make traveling for even the smaller boys safe and convenient. The site chosen, containing nearly three hundred acres, is five Site . . . . . miles west of Asheville, with which it is connected by a concrete motor road and the Southern Railway. A dam of reinforced concrete, built across Ragsdale Creek, makes a lake nearly a mile in length, used for swimming and boating and all kinds of aquatic sports. The build- ings and playgrounds are situated one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the lake. Much of the land is sufficiently level to make fine fields [ 14]

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THE BUILDINGS The School The School, built of brick and cement, has been named Mitchell Hall, in memory of the late Charles Andrews Mitchell, co-founder. It incorporates the best features of the most approved modern school buildings, and contains the recitation rooms, library, laboratories, study, and auditorium, all heated by steam and lighted by electricity. The Senior House is a dormitory for the use The Senior House c , , c , ,™. or the boys or the two upper borms. I his building is similar to Anderson Hall in general appearance and construc- tion and is fitted with all modern conveniences for the comfort of the pupils. It has been named Percy Lawrence Hall, in memory of Millard Percy Lawrence, a member of the Class of 1906. Anderson Hall, named in honor of Newton The ower ouse ]y[itchell Anderson, one of the founders, is the dormitory for boys of the lower Forms. It is of pleasing architec- ture, substantially built of brick and cement. It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, and equipped with an excellent system of ventila- tion and with ample lavatories and bathrooms provided with modern plumbing. The Library, called the Hillyer Holden Library, was Library foun(jecj by the gift of Mr. R. A. Holden, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in memory of his son, Hillyer Holden. It contains well-selected works of reference and general literature, and also the best periodicals. In 1931 the Library was entirely remodeled and refurnished. The William Spencer Boyd Memorial Chapel, built in the summer of 1927 in memory of a member of the Class of 1915, is the generous gift of his mother, Mrs. Mary S. Boyd, of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is built of native granite in Tudor Gothic style, finished in oak, and seats about 400 persons. The organ is the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Burnham Standish Colburn, of Biltmore Forest, in memory of their son, William Cullen Colburn, of the Class of 1918. [ 16 ]