Sue Bennett Memorial School, named for a Madison County promoter, opened in 1897 to educate mountain children. Funded by local people and the Methodists, it taught all grades. A commercial department opened in 1901, the county high school operated there from 1910 to 1933, and a normal school operated from 1900 to 1920 before becoming a junior college in 1922. Its name changed in 1930, and it closed in 1997. From 1897 to 1997, it educated more than 11,000 students. Its leaders were J.C. Lewis, 1897-1917; J.E. Savage, 1915-16; Ms. K.J. French, 1916-17; A.W. Mohn, 1917-22; K.C. East, 1922-42; H.V. McClure, 1939; Ms. J. Harrison, 1942-44; Ms. O. Sanders, 1944-58; L. Flynn, 1954; E.F. Hays, 1958-85; J.E. Patterson, 1985-88; Ms. J.K. Stivers, 1988-91; P.G. Bunnell, 1991-97; and J. Cheek, 1997.