The community of Westmoreland has been most fortunate over the years to have been served by a variety of educational facilities.  Ranging from the first scattered subscription schools open to only a few paying students, to the eventual state and county supported public schools open to all, there have always been those individuals in the area who knew the value of a good education.  Their determination to provide such to the children of the community was of profound importance.  

The first schools in the community were called subscription schools.  These were operated by a professor or teacher who charged the students a fee for instruction and held his classes in his home, the nearest church, or other available place.  Old Brushy, near Pleasant Grove, was one such school, having been founded around 1865.  This school was apparently the forerunner of the Pleasant Grove School which served that community for so long.  The teacher at Old Brushy was James A. Nimmo who had only recently returned from the Civil War as a captain in the Confederate Army.  The school term varied but was usually about six months in length.  Because of the rural lifestyles of most of the students, the education they received was often interrupted by their family’s needs at home. 

The forerunner of Gumwood School, located on Trammel Creek just across the line in Macon County, was also a subscription school.  Murray McDole, the father of Graidon McDole, briefly attended school there as a child.  The teacher was a man he referred to as “Old Dr. Wilson”.  (This may have been Dr. Granville Wallace Wilson who lived on Trammel Creek in Macon County near the Gumwood School.)

Toward the latter part of the 19th century, an increased emphasis was placed on the education of the community’s children.  As a result, one-room schoolhouses began to dot the landscape every few miles.  One of these was located within present-day Westmoreland.  This school, likely located in the area between today’s Mill Street and Epperson Springs Street, was known to the community as Hawkins Schoolhouse.  The school was of log construction and, inside, the children sat on log seats supported by legs inserted in holes on the underside.  The names of the teachers at this location are unknown, although it is quite possible that Mrs. Mallie Summers, the individual credited with supplying the name “Westmoreland” for the new community in 1886, was a teacher at this school.

Circa 1893, another school was built in Westmoreland.  This building sat behind the present-day Westmoreland Methodist Church.  The building, painted white, was of frame construction and contained several classrooms.  Among the teachers who taught there were Tom Kirby, Morgan Hodges, John R. Doss and Mallie Summers.  

At about the same time, or in some cases somewhat later, schools were built at Turner’s Station, Garrett’s Creek, Cooper’s, Oak Grove, Fairfield, and so forth.  In due time, the school at Westmoreland became overcrowded and the need for a larger building was recognized.  

Squire W. Brown, the town’s first city judge, donated a parcel of land situated at the top of the hill at the corner of today’s Bledsoe and Locust Streets as the site for a new school. When construction was completed, the community had an impressive educational facility for its time.  Standing two stories tall, the large frame building was topped by a bell tower.  Extending from the rear of the main structure was a rectangular-shaped, single story ell which functioned as an auditorium / cafeteria/ classroom.  This building was constructed in 1910.  It remained a “two teacher elementary school” until sometime later when it became a two year high school.  Duke Moss, Davis Durham, Viney Moncrief, and Professors Henry Brackin and Odell Davis were among the many who taught in this building.  

Increasing enrollment again presented a dilemma to the community.  In 1928, the decision was made to construct a new, larger school.  The town of Westmoreland contributed $10,000 in bonds to build the first unit of a new high school, which included an auditorium and two wings of classrooms out to a gym.  This new school was built on the ground immediately behind the existing school.  The new school was an all-brick structure and served grades 1-12 until 1955, having become a four-year high school when it opened in 1929.  The first graduating class consisted of 23 students.  

This new school would be called The Hilltopper and was the source of much community pride and the host of many activities.  During the 1930s and early 1940s, the school’s agriculture department sponsored the East Sumner Fair.  During its time, this annual fair was the largest in Sumner County and only ended with the advent of World War II.  

In 1953, the Sumner County Board of Education authorized the appropriation of funds for the construction of a new high school in Westmoreland.  The new building, located along today’s Old Highway 31E, was completed and opened in 1955, housing grades 7-12.  The new location created the need for a new mascot name and the student body chose to become the Eagles in 1958. The school did retain the Hilltopper colors of maroon and white.  This structure would serve as the community’s high school until the fall of 1988.  It remains in use as a portion of the Westmoreland Middle School.  

The Hilltopper school was to be used as an elementary school but, tragically, was destroyed by fire in December of 1955.  Only the Agricultural Annex was left unscathed by the fire, and still stands today, used as a warehouse.  The new Westmoreland Elementary School, located on Old Highway 52, opened its doors on January 1, 1959. 

Due to increasing enrollment and extreme overcrowding, a new high school opened its doors in the fall of 1988.  It adjoined the existing 1955 structure, which then became the Westmoreland Middle School, serving grades 6-8.  The Eagles mascot remained unchanged, but the school colors had transitioned to red, white and black.   

An entirely new and separate campus was opened on Hawkins Drive in 2004.  This structure, housing grades 9-12, continues to serve the community of Westmoreland and its students and staff show great pride in the care of the facility.  The school warmly embraces the opportunity to educate the community’s children and to graduate them as good and productive citizens.   

A few years after the new high school was completed, Westmoreland added a new elementary school to replace the existing Westmoreland Elementary School.

If you know the identity of any of the individuals appearing in the photographs, please share in the comments section!