The History of Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center

1820s: Schools in Cowee are subscription schools

Post-Civil War - 1880s: Peabody School, near present day Snow Hill Methodist Church, is considered one of the best schools in the region

Late 1880s: County builds an elementary school on Rickman Creek with one teacher and a four-month school year

1930s - 1940s: Current school location is the site of a Civilian Conservation Corp camp

1943: School opens after being constructed as a Works Project Administration project. The new school combined Cowee, Oak Grove, Tellico, Morgan, Rose Creek, Liberty, and Harmony Schools

1944: Lunchroom built in an old storage building

1952: A new oil furnace replace the pot-bellied stoves that heated each room

1954: Two brick classrooms added to main building as well as a separate brick structure for the kitchen and cafeteria

Early 2000s: Macon County begins planning for a north Macon Elementary school to consolidate Iotla and Cowee Schools

2001: Cowee West's Mill Historic District is formed and recognized on the US Registry of Historic Places encompassing 360 acres with 56 buildings and Cowee Mound

2006: Macon County announces plans to consolidate Iotla and Cowee Schools at the site of Iotla Elementary

2006: Cowee Community Development Organization develops a plan to preserve the school and repurpose the building as a community  and heritage center

2008: The Mountain Landscapes Initiative recognizes Cowee School as being critical to the development of the Cowee Valley as a heritage destination

2010: Cowee School, through support from Macon County, the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT) and the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, hosts a three-day charette to gather public input on the repurposing of the school as a community and heritage center. 

2011: Macon County contracts with LTLT to produce a business plan to guide in the development of the Macon County Heritage Center at Cowee School

2012: After 69 years, Cowee School closes its doors as an elementary school. The property is transferred from the School Board to Macon County and work begins to develop the Heritage Center

2012: The Cherokee Preservation Foundation becomes the first of many organizations to award grant funding directly to the project

2012: The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area awards Cowee School a grant to create a music venue in the school gym and designates Cowee School as a stop along the Blue Ridge Music Trails

2013: The last of the eight mobile classrooms is sold and removed, opening up the front grounds for recreation and events

2013: The Macon County Commissioners appoint an advisory board to oversee the development of the Heritage Center

2013: Cowee Textiles becomes the first tenant at Cowee School, followed soon by the Macon County Historical Society room, Cowee Pottery School, Cynthia Kinard, Local History & Genealogy Research room, and Jon Houglum. 

2013: Hundreds turn out for the First Annual Cowee School Celebration, Balsam Range headlines for the event, kicking off the first Summer Concert Series at Cowee School.

2014: Macon County retires the old oil-fired furnace and installs a modern heating and cooling system, making the gym bearable in summer months for the first time in school's history

2014: Funded by a donation from the family of Annie Dee Leatherman Smith, the Cowee School Community Garden is constructed

2014: The Cowee Farmers' Market begins offering local produce and products on Tuesday afternoons. 

2015: The kitchen is certified by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture as a shared-use kitchen. Brew Nutz is the first commercial user

2015: Macon County Heritage Center at Historic Cowee School receives its 501(c)3 status

2015: Cowee School Gallery opens

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2016: Renamed to "Cowee Arts & Heritage Center" to encompass Macon and all surrounding counties.