Fire of 1910

Disaster struck when in the early morning hours of November 22, 1910 fire destroyed the Normal School’s only building. (The Bluefield Daily Leader newspaper account is here.) With the building in ruins, the citizens of Athens were faced with the real prospect that the Normal School would temporarily close and that political forces would take advantage of the situation and relocate the Normal School to an available facility in another community.

The response by the townspeople was immediate and two-fold: First, churches, storerooms and lodge halls were immediately made available so that the Normal School could continue classes without interruption, and the ground floor of the Odd Fellows Hall was used for the office of the Principal of the Normal School. This arrangement proved to be satisfactory despite the unfortunate later occurrence of a second fire, this time originating in the Odd Fellows Hall in the early morning hours of January 14, 1912, in which the Principal’s office and all of the school’s records were again destroyed by fire. Second, a committee headed by Athens physician Dr. David H. Thornton was formed to rebuild the Normal School in Athens. Working with local legislators and Senate President Dr. Henry D. Hatfield, the efforts of Dr. Thornton and the committee were soon rewarded. In an Act passed by the Legislature on February 17, 1911 and signed by the Governor on February 20, 1911, an appropriation was approved for the purpose of rebuilding the main building of the Branch Normal School at Concord (now Athens). 

Read about the New Site by clicking here.