Vision

The vision of Holly Springs Center is to enhance community unity for all ages through opportunities for growth, exploration, creativity and connectivity.

Mission

Holly Springs Center promotes the beauty and culture of the Upcountry. Classes will be offered in traditional and innovative arts, crafts and sciences, as well.

Motto

Visit. Learn. Grow.

The History of the Holly Springs Center

Holly Springs Center was established as a non-profit organization and opened its doors to the public in the summer of 2016 as a School of Mountain Arts and Heritage and enrolled its first preschool class  in the fall.  The building was formerly Holly Springs Elementary School that was closed due to consolidation.  The founding directors, Dr. Betty McDaniel and Dr. Abby Baker, approached the Superintendent of the School District of Pickens County and requested use of the building as an educational center, and  fortunately, this request was granted.  The Holly Springs Center’s purpose was to maintain the building as a center for learning traditional arts, to educate individuals about our Appalachian heritage, and to establish a play-based, nature-focused preschool program.

The very first Holly Springs Elementary School was established as a subscription school back in 1881.  Although there are no official published histories about the first school, there is a milled steppingstone from the school that was located at the site of the present Holly Springs Fire Department and there is record of the original charter.  Parents were required to pay a subscription for each child who attended, which amounted to approximately $3.00 per child. School sessions followed the planting seasons.  Back then, attendance at school was not mandatory.  Due to the small size of the school building,  enrollment was probably about a dozen children, according to Dennis Chastain, local historian. The first two teachers at the school were local residents,  Willie and Mary Chastain, who were siblings.   Dennis Chastain also relayed that he and his wife, Jane, explored the area a few years ago and actually located the two springs that came together, between which grew a huge holly tree, and thus this was the origin of the school’s name, Holly Springs.

The knoll behind Holly Springs Country Store was the location of the second school, which was erected by James Burdine, builder, in 1926, when school attendance became mandatory. The original contract and the exact dimensions are part of the documented history for this building.  Mrs. Pearl Chastain was the first teacher at this new school, and there was a second teacher whose name was not mentioned in the local histories.  These two teachers divided the one-room schoolhouse into two classes, one for the younger students and one for the older students.  There was a wood stove, a well, and an outhouse on the property.  

The third and final school came into existence in 1954 at its present location.  Ten different small schools were consolidated to form this one school.  Miss Katie Hendricks was its first Principal.  A renovation in the 1980’s expanded the A Wing; and the B Wing added at the same time created the building as it currently exists.  The school’s existence across these three buildings totaled 135 years!   Today, the long line of educators and students who passed through the doors of Holly Springs Elementary School over the years would be proud to know that learning is continuing at the present location as we look back with appreciation on the skills and knowledge of our ancestors and glance forward through the fresh eyes of the preschoolers who frequent the building daily as they are gaining knowledge and skills through their unique opportunity to receive play-based, nature-focused classes!