Castle Heights Military Academy was a private military academy in

Lebanon, Tennessee Lebanon ( ) is the county seat of Wilson County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 38,431 at the 2020 census. Lebanon is located in Middle Tennessee, approximately east of downtown Nashville. Lebanon is part of the Nashville Metro ...

, United States. It opened in 1902 and became a military school in 1918. The school closed in 1986. Its former campus was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

as the Castle Heights Academy Historic District in 1996.

History

The academy was founded in 1902 as Castle Heights School outside of

.Stager, Claudette.
Castle Heights Military Academy
. SAH Archipedia. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, editors. Society of Architectural Historians/University of Virginia Press. Accessed June 16, 2024. Its founders were David Mitchell, president of

Cumberland University Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842. The oldest campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896. History 1842–1861 The university was founded by the Cumberl ...

; Isaac W. P. Buchanan, a mathematics teacher at the recently defunct Cumberland Preparatory School; Amzi W. Hooker, a resident of Lebanon; and

Laban Lacy Rice Dr. Laban Lacy Rice (October 14, 1870 – February 13, 1973) was an educator, author, and president of Cumberland University. He was an international authority on relativity. Early life He was born in Dixon, Kentucky, to Laban Marchbanks Rice, a ...

, a former English instructor at the Cumberland Preparatory School. Rice served as the school's headmaster and was later president of Cumberland University. Buchanan taught mathematics at the school and was later its business manager and headmaster. The academy was initially coeducational and had 96 boarding students. It became a military preparatory school for boys in 1918 as a response to

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. By the next year, the military academy had 415 cadets. In 1928, Castle Heights Military Academy struggled financially and was bought for $100,000 by

Bernarr Macfadden Bernarr Macfadden (born Bernard Adolphus McFadden, August 16, 1868 – October 12, 1955) was an American proponent of physical culture, a combination of bodybuilding with nutritional and health theories. He founded the long-running magazine pu ...

, a millionaire publisher. physical trainer, and nationally known fitness advocate. He hired Harry L. Armstrong as the academy's superintendent, and Daniel Taylor Ingram, a

Virginia Military Institute The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the U.S. In k ...

graduate and former assistant commandant of

Fishburne Military School Fishburne Military School (FMS) is a private, military boarding school for boys in Waynesboro, Virginia, United States. It was founded by James A. Fishburne in 1879 and is the oldest military high school in Virginia, and the 13th oldest in the ...

, as its commandant. Macfadden required the students to eat salads every day, not to use condiments or pillows, to participate in sports, and to drink so much milk that the school acquired a dairy. He also introduced boxing and wrestling programs. Students' height and weight appeared on their monthly report cards. In 1954, the school had grown to almost 500 students and operated a summer camp. After Mcfadden's died in 1955, the academy was operated by The Bernarr Macfadden Foundation. Sanford Naval Academy was founded in

Sanford, Florida Sanford is a city and the county seat of Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located in Central Florida and its population was 61,051 as of the 2020 census. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metropolitan Statistical ...

, as a sister institution in 1963. In 1965, Ingram became the academy's superintendent, after serving as its commandant since 1929. In 1973, the school began admitting female day students. The Castle Heights Foundation purchased the school in 1974. The school ceased operations in 1986 in the face of declining enrollment and debt. Cumberland University maintains records and other school memorabilia. Many of the former academy's buildings have been restored and now house the Lebanon City Hall, Lebanon Museum and History Center, and other small businesses. Previously undeveloped areas of campus have been subdivided and now are the location of businesses, such as banks and nursing homes. The Mitchell House served as the headquarters of the holding company for Cracker Barrel Old Country Store from 1998 to 2013. It was purchased by

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity in North America. As of 2021, it had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 118,000 alumni. The fraternity is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded on February 26, 1897, at Vincennes Uni ...

fraternity in 2013 and served as its international headquarters until 2017. Mitchell-house-lebanon-tn1

Campus

Castle Heights Academy's administrative building was designed by architect Tom Chamberlain in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

in 1902. The Queen Anne style president's house was building in 1902, west the administrative building. Rutherford Parks Library and Mildred Armstrong Hospital were added in 1905, both in collegiate gothic style. An auditorium and gymnasium were built in 1928 and named for the school's owner, Bernarr Macfadden. The Mitchell House, the former home of founder David Mitchell, was purchased by the school in 1936 and used to house the junior school; it was called Macfadden Hall. Behind the Mitchell House was a springhouse that was used for gun storage. The campus included 150 acres and was expanded to 225 acres in the 1930s. The McFadden Foundation Auditorium was added to the campus in 1941. The campus was added to the

as the Castle Heights Academy Historic District in 1996.

Notable alumni

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(1961) founder and member of

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(1963), founder and member of

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and controversial private detection involved in the

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, professional football player * J. Wyeth Chandler, Mayor of Memphis, 1972-1982 *

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, general in the United States Army and U.S. European

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commander *

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who represented the United States at the

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, co-founder of Cracker Barrel Old Country Store *

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, businessman, entrepreneur, and philanthropist *

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yer, and author of maritime fiction and nonfiction adventures * Allison B. Humphreys, justice of the

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, novelist * Lance W. Lord, general in the United States Air Force * Thomas P. McKenna, United States Army officer and author * Gilbert S. Merritt Jr.,

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of the

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from 1977 to 2022 *

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for

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player and

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, member of the

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References

* James A. Crutchfield, ''Hail, Castle Heights! An Illustrated History of Castle Heights School and Castle Heights Military Academy'', Castle Heights Alumni Association (2003).

External links

Alumni association

entry for Castle Heights {{Coord, 36, 12, 47, N, 86, 18, 22, W, display=title Private schools in Tennessee Defunct United States military academies Lebanon, Tennessee Educational institutions disestablished in 1986 Educational institutions established in 1902 Defunct schools in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Wilson County, Tennessee 1902 establishments in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Wilson County, Tennessee City and town halls on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee

History

Campus

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links