History

The first teacher at the Whippoorwill Academy was the Rev. George Sherrill, a confederate veteran from Lenoir, N.C. Alfred J. Foster, Ben Proffit, Jud Proffit, Gus Cobb and Blanche Ferguson were other teachers at the academy. Students included members of the Eller, Bishop, McGee, Hendrix, Matherly, German, Jones, Spicer, Triplett, Dula, Walsh, Andrews, Ferguson, Foster, Pearson, and West families. James Larkin Pearson, Poet Laureate of North Carolina, attended school here.

The school was used as the voting house for the Beaver Creek Township until the mid 1960’s. The building was closed as a school in 1901 when the Beaver Creek Academy was built.

Whippoorwill Academy was located on the Peeler Hayes farm until 1986. It was then dismantled, moved and reconstructed on the Ferguson-Carter farm less than a mile from its original location by Hill and Edith Ferguson Carter. The school, reconstructed as the original, is now being used as a local museum. In the loft are the paintings and drawings of  “The Legend of Tom Dooley” and Dooley (Dula) memorabilia.