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A wood stove served as the centerpiece of the building, and children spent many a cold winter day adding wood to the fire. A bucket of drinking water was kept inside with both boys and girls sharing the one dipper.
Thirty was the most students to ever attended at one time, recall former students of the school, which served grades 1-7. While length of the school year was six months, students rarely attended the entire school term because girls, as well as boys, had to work at home and on the farm.
'Work generally took top priority,' said Henson.
Going to school was considered an honor and a privilege, and sacrifices had to be made to attend. No school buses were available, so the children walked to school, usually barefoot, until the first frost. With no cafeteria, children carried their dinner from home, generally in a lard pail. Milk was kept cool in the nearby spring.
Students had to buy their own books since there were no state textbooks at the time. At the beginning of the school year, parents bought their children a 5-cent tablet, which was expected to last the entire term, along with the penny pencil.
Children at Catherine's Chapel studied the basics - reading, arithmetic, geography, history, spelling and handwriting. A highlight of the school year was competing in a spelling bee with Balsam Grove.
On Sunday afternoons the building was transformed into a church, with Sunday school beginning at 2 p.m.
'On most Sundays there was a full house,' said Henson. 'People either walked or came on horseback. Some of the men had certain places to sit and one could always count on them being there. After church, someone would invite the preacher home for supper.'
While the school closed in 1927 after consolidating with John's Creek, the chapel remains in use. Several couples have chosen to have weddings at the quaint little chapel. As part of Jackson County's sesquicentennial celebration last year, a special service was held there on Oct. 28.
Henson recalled some of the teachers who taught at Catherine's Chapel, including Dave Pruitt, J. Oscar Wood, Evelyn Cathy, Ila Painter, Aaron Hooper and Glenn Hughes.
'As far as I know, the only teacher still living who taught there is Ila Bumgarner Henson, who is 98 and lives in the Fairview community,' said Alma Henson.
'Some of the students are still living, and the ones I can think of are Essie Hooper Moore of Cullowhee, Sabria Hooper Goodson of Brevard, Kenneth Hooper of Sylva, Conrad Hooper of Raleigh, Theodore Parker of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Effie Melton Whittner of Hickory, Winnie Wood Ray of Washington state, Lester Wood of Charlotte and Arbie Melton Armstrong, Willanelle Melton Stiles, Margie Hooper Hall, Arutherine Hooper, and Eleanor Cook Phillips, all of Waynesville.'
According to Alma Henson, the following ministers, now deceased, once preached at Catherine's Chapel: Ben Cook, Sterling Melton, Ham Coffee, John Harris, Calvin Massingale, Cecil Hooper, Wes Parker and Floyd Cook.
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