Castle Heights Military Academy was a private

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metropolit ...

, United States. It opened in 1902, became a military school in 1918, and closed in 1986. The Academy was founded in 1902 as Castle Heights School by David Mitchell, President of

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee. It was founded in 1842. The campus's current historic buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842-1861 The university was founded by the Cumberland ...

, also in Lebanon, and Isaac W. P. Buchanan, a mathematics professor there, together with A. W. Hooker and Laban Rice, an English professor who served as the school's headmaster and was later also President of Cumberland University. It was initially coeducational; it became a military preparatory school for boys in 1918 as a result of World War I. In 1928, Castle Heights Military Academy was struggling financially and was bought for $100,000 by

Bernarr Macfadden Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded the long-running magazine pub ...

; the Bernarr Macfadden Foundation operated it until 1974. An auditorium and gymnasium were built and named for Macfadden, and Mitchell's house, purchased from his heirs in 1936 and used to house the junior school, was called Macfadden Hall. Macfadden required the students to eat salads every day, not to use condiments or pillows, to participate in sports, and to drink so much milk that the school acquired a dairy. Students' height and weight appeared on their monthly report cards. In 1954 the school had grown to almost 500 students, had a 150-acre campus including a hospital, and operated a summer camp. In 1963 Sanford Naval Academy was founded in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Seminole County. As of the 2020 census, its population was 61,051. Known as the "Historic Waterfront Gateway City", Sanford sits on the southern shore ...

, as a sister institution. Despite a return to coeducation in 1970, the school ceased operations in 1986 in the face of declining enrollment and debt. Its buildings have been restored and now serve as the Lebanon City Hall, Lebanon Museum and History Center and other small businesses. Previously undeveloped areas of campus have been subdivided and now feature businesses such as banks and nursing homes. Records and other school memorabilia are maintained by Cumberland University. The Mitchell House served as the headquarters of the holding company for

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., doing business as simply Cracker Barrel, is an American chain of restaurant and gift stores with a Southern country theme. The company was founded by Dan Evins in 1969. Its first store was in Lebanon, ...

from 1998 to 2013. It was purchased by

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity in 2013 and served as the fraternity's international headquarters until 2017.

Prominent alumni

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman Br ...

and

Duane Allman Howard Duane Allman (November 20, 1946 – October 29, 1971) was an American rock guitarist, session musician, and the founder and original leader of the Allman Brothers Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in ...

, founders and members of

The Allman Brothers Band The Allman Brothers Band was an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman (founder, slide guitar and lead guitar) and Gregg Allman (vocals, keyboards, songwriting), as well as Dickey Betts (lead guita ...

Rex Armistead Rex Armistead (February 23, 1930 – December 24, 2013) was a private detective, Mississippi Highway Patrol officer, and the leading operative for the since disbanded Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission. Later, he was heavily involved as ...

, investigator of the

Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi from 1956 to 1977 tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. T ...

and controversial private detection involved in the

Arkansas Project The Arkansas Project was a series of investigative press reports, funded primarily by conservative businessman Richard Mellon Scaife, that focused on criticism of then-President Bill Clinton and his administration. Scaife spent nearly $2 million on ...

Wesley Clark Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he obtained a degree ...

, general in the United States Army *

Dan Evins Danny Wood Evins (October 11, 1935 – January 14, 2012) was an American entrepreneur and Entrepreneur, co-founder of Cracker Barrel, a Southern-themed restaurant chain. Early life Evins was born in Smithville, Tennessee, on October 11, 1935. As a ...

, co-founder of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store * Lance W. Lord, general in the United States Air Force *

Pete Rademacher Thomas Peter Rademacher (November 20, 1928 – June 4, 2020) was an American heavyweight boxer. A gold medalist at the 1956 Olympics, he became the only person to challenge for the world heavyweight championship in his first professional b ...

, heavyweight boxer *

Herbert S. Walters Herbert Sanford Walters (November 17, 1891August 17, 1973) was a Democratic United States Senator from Tennessee from 1963 to 1964. Early life and education Walters was a native of Jefferson County, Tennessee. He was a graduate of the former Ca ...

, US senator *John Wyeth

Chandler Chandler or The Chandler may refer to: * Chandler (occupation), originally head of the medieval household office responsible for candles, now a person who makes or sells candles * Ship chandler, a dealer in supplies or equipment for ships Arts ...

, Mayor of Memphis, 1972-1982 *Rich Roberts, Entrepreneur, Franklin TN

References

* James A. Crutchfield, ''Hail, Castle Heights! An Illustrated History of Castle Heights School and Castle Heights Military Academy'', Castle Heights Alumni Association (2003).

External links

Alumni association

entry for Castle Heights {{Coord, 36, 12, 47, N, 86, 18, 22, W, display=title Private schools in Tennessee Defunct United States military academies Lebanon, Tennessee Educational institutions disestablished in 1986 Educational institutions established in 1902 Defunct schools in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Wilson County, Tennessee 1902 establishments in Tennessee