Armstrong Academy of Bryan County

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History

Armstrong Academy was founded as a school for Choctaw boys in 1844. The first classroom buildings and dormitories were built of logs from the area. In the late 1850s a brick building replaced the log building. A two-story brick addition was added later. As a school the average attendance was about 65 students, though in 1859 it had about 100 students. The Baptist Missionary Society of Louisville, Kentucky directed activities until 1855. In that year it was turned over to the Cumberland Presbyterian Board of Foreign and Domestic Missions who directed it until the school closed in 1861 at the outbreak of the Civil War. Allen Wright, then a Choctaw Presbyterian missionary, served as principal instructor at the academy during 1855–1856. During the Civil War the academy closed. Part of the building was used as a Confederate Hospital. The Choctaw Council met there in 1863, & The United Nations of Indian Territory delegates (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Choctaw, Seminole, and Caddo) met here with the Confederacy to plan war strategy.

Current

The Armstrong Academy was destroyed by fire in February 1921. The Federal government refused to rebuild it, and today the area has reverted to its original state as a deserted pasture. Nothing remains of the town but rubble from the Armstrong Academy.