{"nrhp_refnum":"98000707","name":"Cove Creek High School","other_names":["Cove Creek Elementary School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"207 Dale Adams Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sugar Grove","county":"Watauga County","state":"NC","lat":36.263178118500065,"lon":-81.78501492738505,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-06-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Collegiate Gothic stone school building at 207 Dale Adams Road in Sugar Grove, Watauga County, North Carolina, built 1940-1941 by the Works Progress Administration and designed by architect Clarence R. Coffey.","why_significant":"It is argued to be the only intact school in Watauga County built through local, state and federal New Deal-era cooperation, which supports eligibility under Criterion A in education. It also qualifies under Criterion C as an architect-designed building executed by local craftspeople using native stone and wood.","narrative":"Cove Creek High School is a battlemented Collegiate Gothic school on a ten-and-one-half-acre hillside site above Cove Creek in western Watauga County. Built between fall 1940 and June 1941 for $85,000, it was erected by the Works Progress Administration to serve a consolidated school district drawn from the Cove Creek Valley communities. Architect Clarence R. Coffey designed it, while local stonemasons, carpenters and a cast stone worker built it from stone and hemlock taken from nearby farms. The seven-bay front has stair towers, a crenellated parapet and a cast stone entrance surround. The school is recognized as the only intact New Deal-era school in the county and as an example of mountain craftsmanship directed by a trained architect. It later housed Cove Creek Elementary after high schools were consolidated in 1965, and was abandoned in 1995-96 when a new elementary school was built. Additions include a 1981 media center, a 1952 agriculture building and a 1958 gymnasium.","period_of_significance":"1940-1947","architect_builder":"Coffey, Clarence (Architect)","architectural_style":"Other: Collegiate Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant/not in use; the school was abandoned in 1995-96 when a new elementary school was built. Later additions include a 1981 media center, with a 1952 agricultural building and 1958 gymnasium counted as noncontributing.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.291196-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/94/7227/47722794/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/98000707.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000707/219c5fcc2f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000707/219c5fcc2f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Crimson henry","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:105covecreek16Jun15_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crimson henry</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:105covecreek16Jun15_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722794","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cove_Creek_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20656834"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/watauga-county/cove-creek-high-school-98000707/"}