The History of Bethel School and Community

Bethel is a Biblical name for house of God. An early Baptist minister that came to the area chose the name because of his commitment to establish a church in such a scenic landscape. Bethel Community is located in the western portion of Watauga County. It is approximately fifteen miles from Boone and is conveniently reached by traveling west on US Hwy. 321 to State Road 1201, which is Bethel Road. Bethel is a lovely mountain valley which has an elementary school named Bethel, a Baptist church named Bethel and hundreds of people whose homes and lives are the spirit of the Bethel community. There is also a volunteer fire department and one general store, the StoneMountain Grocery.

Precisely when the very first white people arrived in this area is not well documented, but we would guess that it was sometime in the late 1700s. The original Bethel School was a two room school house. These two schools were consolidated into a large frame construction located to the rear of the site of the present Bethel School. The rock school was built in 1936-37. Students from all areas began attendance in the new school in the 1937-38 school year. The school operated as an elementary and high school until 1965 when a new consolidated high school forWatauga County began operation and Bethel became an elementary school. Although Bethel has not changed so much as other rural partsof Watauga County, it has seen dramatic change in the way residents live and work. Gone are the many of the dairy farms, cheese factories, and sawmills that once were common throughout the region. Today most residents commute to work in Boone, while maintaining only a small farm. Only time can tell how long it may be preserved as it is: a very peaceful place where the people value and respect friendship, are proud of their heritage, and work together for the benefit of Bethel community.