Cabarrus County NcArchives History - Schools .....Shankletown School 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Alice Stewart n/a October 30, 2013, 8:06 am

History of Shankletown School
Submitted by Alice Stewart

Shankletown School, like many other rural schools, had it's beginning prior to 
1913 in the section of Concord known as Shankletown.  The building was composed 
of a single room and the school was serviced by one teacher. This arrangement 
was sufficient at that time for the enrollment of the school.  At this time all 
students attending school walked daily to and from the school with no child 
having too far a distance to walk.

The Shankletown area proved a growing one and before many years a more desirable 
location was sought and a new one room school was built.  As the years passed 
and the demand made itself evident, additional rooms were added until the final 
structure contained a total of five rooms.  These rooms served approximately one 
hundred and fifty children.

During the last years of the existence of the Old Shankletown School, 
consolidation was being considered as a means of improving the educational 
facilities for the Negro youth of the county and in the meanwhile eliminate the 
one room schools scattered throughout the county.  The site selected was 
adjacent to the old site and a new building was begun. This building consisted 
of six classrooms and an auditorium.  The structure was the modern in the county 
and the state at that time.  This building, along with the old building, served 
the Shankletown area with other areas being added. The areas were:  Silverdale, 
Moorehead, Pleasant Grove No 2, Bethpage and Mountain View.

With this influx of students, an overcrowded condition existed and the wooden 
structure was kept in use.  The need for additional space was acutely felt and 
during the latter part of the 1949 school year, six additional rooms were added. 
Four of these rooms were for grades one and two.  These four rooms boasted of 
drinking fountains and lavatories in each.

The physical plant consisted of two buildings with a total of seventeen 
classrooms.  During the previous school year, the Mount Pleasant school burned 
to the ground.  This school was brought to Shankletown for the 1950-51 year 
term.  Schools added were:  Bell's Mission, Oak Grove, Harrisburg, Benton and 
Drye.  In addition to these schools came the eighth graders from:  Rock Hill, 
Bell Fonte, Cedar Grove No. 10, and Ebenezer.

This school served the entire county with the exception of Logan and Craver 
Schools.  This was accomplished with the aid of eight buses which averaged 419 
miles a day.

During the first three years of it's existence, the school attainted the 
following:

A faculty of nineteen; each teacher with an "A" certificate; two Master's 
degrees with two near completion; a total  enrollment of 664; the first approved 
State Operated Lunchroom for Negroes in the county; the only State Approved 
Negro Elementary School in the county.

Shankletown School served the county well under prepared and energetic teachers 
until the onset of integration when Shankletown closed it's doors and saddened 
the hearts of the community.  However the structure still stands and serves as 
the Cabarrus County Administration Office.


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