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Bessemer High School — Greensboro, North Carolina

Posted by DaveSanders | North Carolina | Posted on February 10th, 2010

 
Bessemer High School
E. Bessemer Ave.
Greensboro, NC

mascot: Whippets
colors: Maroon & Gray
 
 
 
A one-room log schoolhouse was opened in Bessemer, NC on Bessemer Ave. in 1900. That original Bessemer School only housed the elementary grades. In 1911, a larger school was built on the same site and the number of grades were expanded to include all 12 grades. This was the beginning of Bessemer High School. It is likely that some of the dozens of one-room schoolhouses in Guilford County closed when Bessemer High School opened. Grades 1-3 were housed in one building, grades 4-8 in another, while grades 9-12 had their own building. At some point, grades 1-3 were moved into a new building on Huffine Mill Rd. and named Bessemer Primary School.

During the entire 52 year life of Bessemer High School, it only had three Principals. Walter Jones was the first Principal and he served for 36 years until his retirement in 1947. William H. Cude was selected as the next Principal and he served until his death in 1962. (When Bessemer Primary School was opened, Mr. Cude’s wife was selected as its Principal.) Upon Mr. Cude’s death, Assistant Principal Robert L. Clendenin, a 1950 BHS grad, took over and served until the high school closed in 1963. (Here’s an excellent Interview with Bob Clendenin.) After the Bessemer High School students were merged with Page High School in 1963, Mr. Clendenin stayed on as Principal of Bessemer Junior High School, then later became the Principal at Page.

In 1957, the towns of Bessemer and Hamilton Lakes had successfully petitioned to be annexed into Greensboro. Even though Bessemer was then part of Greensboro, Bessemer schools continued to operate under the Guilford County school system. In 1963, the citizenry voted to move the school system from the Guilford County school system to Greensboro City Schools. This led to the merging of Bessemer High School into Page High School. (Greensboro City Schools then merged with Guilford County Schools in 1993.) Apparently, Bessemer continued as a Junior High until 1967 when it was merged into Aycock Junior High School. (If this is wrong, somebody please leave a comment below to correct me.)

Much of the above history came from Mr. Clendenin’s interview and this Bessemer School History.

At some point soon after the closing of Bessemer School, all of the buildings except the Gym were demolished and Erwin Elementary School (now Erwin Montessori) was built on the site. Here’s a Google Street View of what I believe may be the Bessemer High School gym. (Again, somebody please correct me if I’m wrong.)

The Bessemer High School sports teams were known as the Whippets. Whippets are sleek but muscular hunting dogs prized for their speed, power and agility. Bessemer football players certainly lived up to the image. They were a powerhouse in 6-man football in the 1940′s, then continued the tradition after switching to an 11-player team in 1945. They were the North Carolina State Champions in 6-man football in 1941. In the 1950′s, they made three trips to the State Finals game, all ending in defeat. They were more successful in 1962 when they won their second football State Championship.
   1941 – 6-man State Champions
   1953 – State Runner-up (lost to Massey Hill, 20-0)
   1954 – State Runner-up (lost to Edenton, 41-20)
   1958 – State Runner-up (lost to Williamston, 26-20)
   1962 – Region 2 State Champions (def. Brevard, 19-13)

The Bessemer baseball team gave the school a going away present in 1963. The Whippets won the State Championship by defeating Chapel Hill, 5-2.

——— Odds and Ends ———–

State Representative Joseph T. Carruthers, Jr. graduated from Bessemer High School in 1925.

Bessemer High School graduated 50 seniors in 1950, 62 in 1953.

Here’s a link to the Bessemer High School Alumni group on Facebook.

There’s a Bessemer Jr. High group on Facebook, but I saw some BHS folks on there, too.

There are over 200 Bessemer High School alumni on Classmates.com.

Until it expires, you can read this interesting article about Bessemer: Humble Bessemer lives on in memories of school’s alumni.

If you grew up in Guilford County, you might find this post interesting: Old School: HS names from Guilford County’s past.

If you have memories of Bessemer High School, or you can add anything to this post, please leave a comment below.