Weaver College, originally Weaverville College (1873–1934), was an American co-educational school and college in Buncombe County, North Carolina.

Weaver College
Former name
Weaverville College (1873–1911)
Active1873–1934
AffiliationBrevard College (successor)
Religious affiliation
Methodist Episcopal Church, South
Location, ,
United States of America

Pre-history edit

It was preceded by Weaverville School, a neighborhood school founded in the c. 1850s and operated by the Sons of Temperance.[1] The school and town, originally named Dry Ridge, were renamed for Montraville Weaver who donated land and money to both.[1][2]

History edit

In 1872, the earlier school building burned down, and the towns people decided to build a brick building to serve as a school, for grades 1 through four years of college. Established in 1873, it became a Methodist institution in 1883, property of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.[1][3][4] James Americus Reagan was its first president of Weaverville College, serving from 1872 to 1875.[3][4] The yearbook was named Mountaineer. Property around Lake Juanita, a man-made spring fed lake, was donated to the school and was renamed Lake Louise to honor Louise Moore, widow of Charles Moore.[3][5]

The four-year program was reduced to two years as a junior college in 1911[6] and it was renamed Weaver College. In 1915 the state legislature gave it a new charter.[3]

In 1934 it was merged with the Rutherford Colleges, to form Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina.[6]

The Weaver Room at Brevard College's library and the Weaver College Bell Tower commemorate its history. In Weaverville, its admission building remains and became a masonic lodge and the White House dormitory remains.[6] It was built on South College Street as the home of the college's president.[3] A historical marker commemorates its history.[7][8]

Notable alumni edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Weaver College". lost-colleges.
  2. ^ "MM Weaver". The Asheville Times. 1902-07-26. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-05-12 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Weaverville College" (PDF). HISTORY@HAND.
  4. ^ a b Jackson, Tim W.; Jackson, Taryn Chase (2015-09-14). Weaverville. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 79–. ISBN 978-1-4396-5318-0 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ "North Carolina Gazetteer browse". Encyclopedia of North Carolina (NCpedia).
  6. ^ a b c d e f Hill, Michael (January 1, 2006). "Weaver College". Encyclopedia of North Carolina (NCpedia). University of North Carolina Press.
  7. ^ "Weaver College". Read the Plaque.
  8. ^ "Marker: P-74". ncmarkers.com. Retrieved 2024-04-13.
  • Nell Pickens, Dry Ridge: Some of Its History, Some of Its People (1962) LCCN 62-38834
  • William S. Powell, Higher Education in North Carolina (1963) LCCN 64-64071 OCLC 2610605
  • Douglas Swaim, ed., Cabins & Castles: The History & Architecture of Buncombe County, North Carolina (1981) LCCN 81-623102
  • F. A. Sondley, A History of Buncombe County, North Carolina (1930) LCCN 77-24692 1977 reprint
  • Private Laws of North Carolina, 1873-1874, Chapter VIII