The Long Creek Academy is a former

Christian school A Christian school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countr ...

that is located at the intersection of Academy Road and South Carolina S-37-339 near

U.S. Route 76 U.S. Route 76 (US 76) is an east–west U.S. highway that travels for approximately from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. Route description , - , TN , 8.9 , 14.3 , - , U.S. Route 76 in Georgia, GA , 150.7 , 242.5 , ...

near

Long Creek, South Carolina Long Creek is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Oconee County, South Carolina, United States. It was first listed as a CDP in the 2020 census with a population of 96. It is located within the Sumter Natio ...

in Oconee County. It was named to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on November 20, 1987. It is currently used by a

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

company.

History

In 1913, the Beaverdam Baptist Association began planning for a high school for rural children in Oconee County. The school began in 1914 under the Beaverdam Baptist Association and the Home Mission Board of the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wor ...

. It was one of six "mountain mission schools" in the South including four others in South Carolina. The Academy had . The Main Building was completed in 1914, and the Sullivan Building was completed in 1917. In 1916, the Saluda Baptist Association agreed to cooperate with the Beaverdam Baptist Association for the equipment of the academy. In 1922, the General Board of the South Carolina Baptist Convention took over operation of the school. In 1931, the South Carolina Baptist Convention sold the property. The principal of the Academy, Rev. Luther Henry Raines, reorganized the school as a private corporation. It became an accredited state high school. Although Bible courses were still taught, the State of South Carolina assisted in paying the teachers until 1952. Raines operated the Academy without state or denominational aid until 1956. The property was divided and sold. In 1976, James and Jeanette Greiner bought including the two buildings of the Academy. They converted it into the local headquarters for a river rafting outfitter for the nearby

Chattooga River The Chattooga River (also spelled Chatooga, Chatuga, and Chautaga, variant name Guinekelokee River) is the main tributary of the Tugaloo River. Water course The headwaters of the Chattooga River are located southwest of Cashiers, North Carolin ...

Architecture

Main Building

The Main building is an L-shaped, wood frame, two-story building with an attic. It has a river rock and concrete foundation covered with stucco that was scored to resemble cut stone. The building has weatherboard siding on the first story and wood shingles on the second story. The building originally had a metal

hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

that is now covered in composition shingles. The roof has a square

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

with pyramidal roof and four brick chimneys. The windows are six over six light, double-hung

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned window (architecture), paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double gla ...

s. The front elevation has seven

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

. There is a gable-roofed portico, supported by four brick columns covered in stucco, that extends across three bays of the front elevation. There is a semi-circular

fanlight A fanlight is a form of lunette window, often semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan. It is placed over another window or a doorway, and is sometimes hinged to a transom. Th ...

on the gable end of its roof. The main door has nine lights with a transom. The interior has a central corridor with stairs leading to a second-story landing. A second set of stairs leads to the second floor. The interior has heart pine floors,

tongue and groove Tongue and groove is a method of fitting similar objects together, edge to edge, used mainly with wood, in flooring, parquetry, panelling, and similar constructions. Tongue and groove joints allow two flat pieces to be joined strongly together t ...

ceilings, and plaster walls. The first floor had a kitchen, office, four classrooms, and a rest room. The second floor has four classrooms and four dormitory rooms. As shown in old photographs, the building was originally painted a dark color with white trim. Now, it is painted white. Additional pictures are available.

Sullivan Building

The Sullivan Building, which was named for Paul P. Sullivan of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, was built in 1917 about to the northwest of the Main Building. The Sullivan Building is an L-shaped, two-story wood frame building with a hip roof. Its west wing built in at a later time. The building has unpainted

weatherboarding Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

. There are eight chimneys. The original part of the building has six over six light sash windows. The addition's original windows have been replaced by either shutters or one over one windows. This building originally had fifteen dormitory rooms. Its interior has been modified for its current business. There is also a non-contributing shed between the two buildings.

References

External links

{{National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina School buildings completed in 1914 Schools in Oconee County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Oconee County, South Carolina 1914 establishments in South Carolina