Germanton Academy

Germanton Academy was established in 1810 as a private school in Germanton, the county seat of what was then Stokes County. (In 1849 the county was divided and the southern part became Forsyth County, with the town of Germanton split by the line.) Money for establishing the school was raised through the sale of lottery tickets. During its early years, the academy offered the standard course of study of that time: grammar, Latin, arithmetic, and geography. In 1890 the school was still functioning, and in 1906 it became more securely grounded when it received a state charter. Stock at five dollars per share was sold to raise $5,000 to erect a building on Salem Street in town. The headmaster was J. C. Brown, who afterward became superintendent of schools in Stokes County. However, in 1923 Germanton Academy closed when public schools replaced many private academies throughout North Carolina.