In 1901 the city formed a city school district.
The city and county school systems were two entirely separate systems from 1901 until the 1990s.
County System
From 1900 to the mid-1920s most of the schools were still in one-room school houses. Some were housed in larger buildings.
In 1903 the state gave the school systems throughout the state money for libraries. Five of the county schools opened libraries.
In 1913 there were 60 school districts in the county, meaning there were 60 small schools. Fifty-five of those schools were for white students and seven were for black students. Each of these small schools served grades 1 through 11.
City Schools
In 1901, after the formation of the city school district, the city opened Hendersonville Graded School, serving grades 1 through 11.
In 1903 when the state gave the schools money for libraries, a library opened at Hendersonville Graded School
Rosa Edwards Elementary School was built in Hendersonville in 1912. Today, this building houses the Henderson County Public School Administrative offices. Hendersonville Graded School then only served high school students.
There was a black school at the intersection of Ninth Avenue and Justice Street. It closed in 1916. Students then attended school at Star of Bethel Baptist Church until a school was opened at Sixth Avenue East.
Private Schools
In March 1910, members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church began a school.
“Professors Arthur Spaulding and Sydney Brownsberger (president of the first Seventh-day Adventist College) began the work at that time.”
A school calendar printed for the year 1913-1914 stated that the original school included elementary and high school work “both primarily intended to serve the needs of the workers and children of the community.”
These schools were the forerunners of today’s Fletcher Academy and Captain Gilmer Elementary School.
Kate Shipp moved from Lincolnton to open the Fassifern School for Girls in 1911 in Hendersonville. This private boarding school was located at Fleming Street and U.S. 25 North. The school closed in 1952.
The Blue Ridge School for Boys opened in 1913, at the site where the Blue Ridge Mall is located today. There is a tablet in the mall designating it as the site of the Blue Ridge School for Boys. Norman Sandifer was the headmaster for many years. Young men from throughout the nation and many foreign countries attended this private boarding school. The school closed in the early to mid-1970s.
In 1916 the Carolina Military and Naval Academy opened at Highland Lake in Flat Rock. The school closed in 1924.
County Library
In 1914 Henderson County opened a public library with Carnegie grant funds. The first librarian was Mrs. Norman Sandifer, wife of the founder of the Blue Ridge School for Boys. Annie Sample became librarian around 1920 and served for 30 years as head librarian. The original library was located at the corner of King Street and Fourth Avenue East.