Oak Ridge Military Academy Oak Ridge Military Academy traces its
origins to 7 Apr. 1850, when local citizens "desirous of
promoting the cause of education" met and appointed a board of
trustees to secure funds to erect a schoolhouse. Virtually
everyone in the northwestern Guilford County community of Oak
Ridge contributed to the total of $629. The school, originally
named Oak Ridge Institute, opened on 3 Mar. 1853, with a
classical curriculum of 18 courses and 63 students from North
Carolina and Virginia. By 1856 it had 85 students, roughly
three-quarters of whom were from places other than Oak Ridge.
The entire Oak Ridge Institute student body volunteered in 1862
for service in the Confederate army, which necessitated the
school's temporary closing. Shortly after the end of the Civil
War, the school faced extinction when the main building burned
to the ground the day before classes were to begin in September
1865. Classes were held in a nearby log cabin while supporters
rallied to keep the school open. By 18