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New London Academy is a historic school located in Forest, Bedford County, Virginia. The rising of public schools after 1870 and closing down many of Virginia's private schools led New London Academy joining with the new public school districts of Campbell and Bedford Counties while remaining a private institution. This survival led to New London Academy being known as one of the oldest continuously running public schools of Virginia or even the South.

History
In the eighteenth century, New London, Virginia's hunger for accessible education brought forth the need for a proper American education building. Thus, the New London Academy was chartered by the Virginia General Assembly in December 1795. The charter from the Virginia General Assembly was significant because it gave the Academy a more official stance. With the charter, the school could be seen as more trustworthy since it also had a board of trustees. Early 1975, the Academy was established on its present campus near the former town of New London as a classical school for boys. The school became co-educational in the 1870s and in the late-1880s became affiliated with the new public school system. New London Academy is the only public school in Virginia to operate under a charter from the General Assembly.

Funding The School

In the early stages of the academy, the trustees at the academy hosted local lotteries in order to fund operations due to the lack of state funding. The Literature Lottery was an important source for many schools during this time period. New London Academy held its first in 1797-1798 to collect funds for additional buildings and running the school. The lotteries allowed locals to be involved in helping the school. After 1818, the Academy was funded by the Literacy Fund, which was a State fund.

Evolution of New London Academy

Throughout the years of operation, New London Academy's focus on education has changed:


 * 1795-1870: New London Academy serves as a classical school for boys.
 * 1870-1910: New London converts into a public school.
 * 1910-1964: New London Academy becomes an agricultural high school.
 * 1964- present day: New London Academy serves as an elementary school.

The Structures
The Original School Building

The original campus of 1795 consisted of a roomy academy building, president's house, a large enclosed brick church well, and the kitchen. Later in 1839, the original academy building was replaced by a two-story, brick building with a hipped roof, interior end chimneys, and enlarged windows. The structure was built in Greek Revival style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The historic building originally had a square frame that would later be updated with a brick structure. It also used to have a porch in the front that had white square columns that were original to the structure.

1797 Kitchen

Also on the property is a contributing frame kitchen building. The separate kitchen structure came into existence in 1797 because there was a danger of fire in having a kitchen connected to a bigger building. The original use, of course, was for the purpose of cooking so there is a central chimney that has two openings and hearths on either side of both rooms. Because of the nature of the large fireplaces being useful for cooking, the struggle was to actually heat the building, the fireplaces were much too large to accomplish that need. The kitchen structure has had many different uses. A few uses were as a storage shed and offices for the faculty staff at the academy. In 1890, the structure was used as a music studio.

Notable alumni

 * Edward C. Burks (1821-1897) - American jurist.
 * Wood Boulden (1811-1876) - American jurist.
 * W. Harrison Daniel (1922-2013) - American historian.
 * Gordon Henry White, Jr. (1921-1944) - American army sergeant, killed with fellow "Bedford Boys" on D-Day.
 * Francis W. Eppes (1801-1881) - Prominent planter and maternal grandson of Thomas Jefferson.

Notable Patrons


 * Thomas Jefferson (1743-1846) - An honorable supporter of New London Academy and family to attendees.

Reference

 * Remember to comment on your edits in the "edit summary." Need more substantial sources including Prof's recommendations. Need to say something about how the page can be improved. dddonald (talk) 14:27, 7 February 2019 (UTC)