By 1935, Yanceyville needed a new high school building. The Bartlett Yancey School built in 1923 was inadequate for the growing student population. High school student overflow had been forced into the old academy building, which had been condemned.
The Caswell County Board of Education wanted the new high school building near the 1923 Bartlett Yancey School on East Main Street but did not own the coveted land. It was owned by Yanceyville resident Robert Sterling Graves (1870-1962), who refused to sell. So, Caswell County instituted successful eminent domain proceedings and "took" the property from Robert Sterling Graves. See the below newspaper article.
Interesting: The person for whom the school is named, Bartlett Yancey, Jr. (1785-1828), married Ann Graves (1786-1855), and it was her family from whom the real property described above was taken through eminent domain proceedings. The Caswell County Board of Education was not satisfied that the site of the original Bartlett Yancey School (became the Bartlett Yancey Elementary School) was donated by the Graves/Yancey family -- with only one condition: that it be named for Bartlett Yancey, Jr..
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"A case of unusual interest is to be heard here [Yanceyville] during this week in [court] Chambers. In the proceeding the [Caswell] county board of education is asking that a site be condemned [eminent domain] for a projected school building on the land of R. S. Graves, in the village of Yanceyville. The school authorities have been served with a restraining order and the outcome of the action is creating wide-spread interest."
The Bee (Danville, Virginia), 3 July 1935.
Photographs
Bartlett Yancey High School Building 1935
Bartlett Yancey High School Building 1960s [demolished 2020]
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