Before the Albemarle High School building on North Third Street opened in the fall of 1925, all students in town attended Albemarle Graded School. The Graded School was at the corner of North Third and East North streets and is today the home of the Albemarle Central School Apartments. The Graded School opened in the fall of 1899, and the students were able to move into the first building in the fall of 1900. The school grew quickly, and by 1910-11 the town recognized the need to expand. A new building was constructed to the right of the original building. This new structure, completed in the fall of 1912, would house an auditorium and classrooms for the “upper grades.” This building, shown in today’s picture, was demolished during the late summer of 1964 to make way for a new classroom and auditorium building. Today this space is the home of the Albemarle Neighborhood Theatre. {Lewis Bramlett – Stanly County Historical Society}