Crossnore in Avery County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Bell Tower

Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 24, 2023

1. The Bell Tower Marker

Inscription.
Erected 1951
Placed on
National
Register of
Historic Places
February 18, 2009

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Communications • Education. In addition, it is included in the National Register of Historic Places series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1951.

Location. 36° 1.46′ N, 81° 55.756′ W. Marker is in Crossnore, North Carolina, in Avery County. Marker is on D A R Drive. The bell tower is located between the Cooper Building and Arthur Cottage on the Crossnore School campus. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 200 D A R Dr, Crossnore NC 28616, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Weaving Room at Crossnore School (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); DAR Chapter House (about 400 feet away); The Crossnore School (approx. half a mile away); a different marker also named Crossnore School (approx. half a mile away); A Woman of War (approx. 3½ miles away); Former Avery County Jail (approx. 4.3 miles away); Avery County Veterans Monument (approx. 4.3 miles away); Avery County Salute to Veterans (approx. 4.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Crossnore.

Regarding The Bell Tower.

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Excerpts from the National Register nomination for the Crossnore School Historic District, of which the bell tower is a contributing structure:

In about 1950 Mary Martin Sloop began advocating the constmction of a bell tower for Crossnore School, a tower in which she originally intended to incorporate an incinerator for the refuse generated at the school. Fortunately, that combination never occurred.

… a bell tower was erected in 1951 and (apparently) dedicated on 26 October 1951. A small brass plaque identifies it as the gift of Edith C. Reichardt in memory of her husband Otis N. Reichardt. The bell tower that stood on the Crossnore campus from October 1951 into the summer of 1960 was a concrete-block structure, square in plan, with brick outlining the tall round-arch-headed entrances on its front and side elevations.

… In the summer of 1960 the "artistic" river-rock bell tower Mrs. Sloop envisioned became a reality. A photograph published in the July-September 1960 issue of the “Crossnore School Bulletin” shows the concrete-block tower, rock piled at its base and along a low retaining wall, and an adult male and several youngsters. The caption reads “Coach Reese and helpers putting a rock veneer on the Bell Tower — a memorial to Mrs. Edith C. Reichardt.” At her death Mrs. Reichardt made a bequest to the school for the rock veneer. The veneer, of
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 24, 2023

2. The Bell Tower Marker
Linville River rock, is laid up in a pattern similar to that seen on the nearby DAR Dormitory and the campus's other stone buildings.

Also see . . . Crossnore School Historic District (PDF). National Register nomination for the district, which was listed in 2009. (National Archives) (Submitted on July 25, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)

Credits. This page was last revised on July 25, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 25, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 148 times since then and 52 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 25, 2023, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.