Carcassonne Community School was built as a response to the need for a high school to serve the students in what was then the remote area of Gander, KY. The post office was later moved to Carcassonne’s campus and the community was renamed Carcassonne. Many dedicated residents in the community helped Rev. Hendricks D Caudill, Sr. and his wife Anna Dixon Caudill erect the original building on land the Caudills donated for the school.
The first classes at the new school were held in July 1924. The Letcher County school board helped with school supplies and Alice Lloyd of Caney College sent teachers as faculty. Donations from all around the US enabled the school to expand to serve not only the Carcassonne children, but also many students who were boarded there. The original building burned in 1929, but classes were held in the newly completed gymnasium while the current building was being constructed. At its largest, the Carcassonne campus consisted of 20 acres and approximately 40 buildings. These included classroom buildings, a dining hall, boys’ and girls’ dormitories, and houses for administrators, teachers, and visiting dignitaries. The school served as a community and boarding school, educating students from all over eastern Kentucky. Students could work to pay their tuition, or their parents could pay through barter of garden produce or livestock.
The school also served as a source of night classes for adults in the community, teaching proper agricultural techniques, carpentry, mechanics, and healthcare. During the Great Depression, Carcassonne hosted at least two Letcher County Fairs, with athletic competitions and also contests involving vegetable, fruit, and meat production and preservation. The school was selected as one of the University of Kentucky’s “Listening Centers.” This meant the school received a battery powered radio which enabled the local citizens to gather at the school to listen to scheduled broadcasts of news, music, and cultural productions, including FDR’s “Fireside Chats.” The audience then engaged in discussions about the broadcasts. These were invaluable during the Depression and World War II.
The school fielded both boys’ and girls’ basketball teams when enrollment offered enough students to make a roster. The school athletic team name was the Pioneers, according to the KHSAA Hall of Fame records. The students also competed in the county spelling bee and had intramural competitions in many of the subject areas, including a wide range of debates. The Carcassonne 4-H club was very active.
Eventually, roads into the area were improved enough for students to be transported to Stewart Robinson School, and then Letcher School. High school classes ceased in the late 1940s, but 1-8 classes continued much longer. Several Carcassonne graduates became teachers, including Dr. Reedus Back, and Dennis and Pelma Dixon. A few returned to teach at Carcassonne. Estill Caudill taught and coached boys’ basketball. Gurney Campbell, Beckham and Virginia Caudill, and Edna Whitaker Caudill taught in the present building after the boarding school closed. When it became a “one-room” elementary school, Richard Cornett, Ronnie Back, Jon Henrikson, and Merle Boggs held classes. The last full year of classes consisted of grades 1-6, in 1973-74, and was taught by Marcia Caudill, who also taught at Letcher and Beckham Bates before becoming a county-wide resource teacher, then principal of Whitesburg Middle School.
The building still serves Carcassonne as a community center, presenting social, cultural, and historical activities for the community as well as guests from around the world.
Carcassonne has been featured in many novels, texts, tourist guidebooks, and magazine articles. One can also find numerous clips of dances held here on the internet, and the facility has been used for the production of several videos. The Center still serves as a cultural center for local residents. Many birthdays, reunions, and other family celebrations are held here each year. We host the “longest-running community sponsored” square dance in Kentucky, usually on the second Saturday of each month, except for the winter months. The center also hosts celebrations and/or community dinners several times during the year, and has hosted open-invitation health fairs at the center. Carcassonne is alive and still serving as an asset to the community.
Document Created by Ladder Survivors, Inc.
Submitted by Michael Caudill, Chairman
Carcassonne Community Center
May 11, 2020