This photo of Glade Valley Presbyterian Church, located on the grounds of Glade Valley School, was taken in the 1950s. The recent inset photo shows how little the church has changed.

Glade Valley School has a place in history

Editor's Note: The following is the first in a three-part series on the history of Glade Valley School. The school closed in 1985 and has since fallen into a state of disrepair. Most of the buildings that comprised the original school site have been torn down.

The Glade Valley community is just off U.S. 21 between the Blue Ridge Parkway and Sparta. If you didn't know it was there, it might as well be on the moon. But it hasn't always gone unnoticed. For nearly 75 years Glade Valley was the home of a boarding school that changed lives and redirected the futures of high school boys and girls. But a redirected future started the school, too.

The last century's seventh year brought fruits through an unexpected change in the life of a third-year ministerial student at Davidson College. A.T. Walker's sight had failed to the degree that his studies had to end. As he wandered campus paths, he must have wondered why God would halt his call in such a way. With no other option, he left the college. But Walker was no quitter. Though his sight was failing, his vision was not. God had other plans for him.

His seasons of disappointment made for a busy evangelical path through the mountains of Alleghany and Ashe counties. While seeking the unsaved, Walker discovered a pleading need for education beyond readin', writin' and 'rithmetic. Parents wanted more than an elementary education for their kids, but that was all there was. The puzzle's missing piece would be a high school to prepare young women to be teachers and young men to be preachers. But there wasn't a serious claim to that description in five mountain counties strung together like a cloverleaf bracelet along the Blue Ridge.

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back