The Changing Face of the
Academy Campus F
rom little more than an idea in the mind of Dr. William Hatcher, the campus of Fork Union Military Academy has grown to more than 1,000 acres and dozens of buildings.
1898
Dr. William Hatcher eyes a patch of woods and suggests to a friend, “Wouldn’t that beautiful oak grove be a splendid place for a school?” Dr. Hatcher’s Fork Union Academy opens that same fall in a modest wood frame house in the village of Fork Union, the rooms rented for $5 a month.
1900
Snead Hall was the first Academy building, started in 1900 and completed in 1902. Originally called Academy Hall it was renamed in honor of Charles Goodall Snead.
Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Snead, two of the Academy’s Original Guarantors, donate six acres of land to the school, and construction of Academy Hall, later renamed Snead Hall, begins. The construction was carried out slowly, as money was available. The interior of the building was not completed until 1902.
The Armory was built between 1902 and 1905 and was a multi-purpose building with classrooms and drill space.
1902 An additional eleven acres of land is donated by Mr. and Mrs. W. P. Snead, and construction begins on the Armory, which is completed in 1905.
1912 The Academy’s first president, Dr. William Hatcher, dies August 24, 1912. His son, Dr. Eldridge B. Hatcher is selected to succeed him as the school’s second president.
1914 Col. Clayton E. Crosland is named the Academy’s third president.
1916 Hatcher Hall begins construction.
24
Call to Quarters
