In the early 1900’s the Community of Croft, North Carolina was a thriving agricultural area, as well as an important early railroad stop north of Charlotte. Croft still appears on most maps of the area. The Croft schoolhouse, now a registered historic landmark was originally built as a two-room, two-story school in 1890. By the early 1900’s Croft was a flourishing community and the two-room school was soon overcrowded with close to 40 students ages 5-17.
Silas Davis, a prominent farmer and co-owner of the S.W. and C.S. Davis General Store lobbied for an expansion of the school for several years, but the county school board refused. In 1910 he had a two-room addition built at his own expense and billed the local school board. A report shows he was promptly reimbursed. With the addition of two rooms, the school became the largest existing pre-1920 schoolhouse in Mecklenburg County. The four-room Croft schoolhouse sufficed until the late 1930’s, when a newer and larger school located just across the road on highway 115 replaced the school. The new school served elementary and middle grades while high school students attended school in Huntersville (now Huntersville Elementary).
The Croft School served as more than an educational dwelling for the community. It also served as the community gathering place. To this day the Croft School built in the 1930's still provides a meeting place for the VFW and other local groups. The original Croft Schoolhouse has been restored, complete with school bell, and provides office space for several businesses. The Croft Schoolhouse and General Store are a significant historical link to the early public education and commerce systems in nothern Mecklenburg Count. These preserved landmarks, in a rapidly growing area, connect twenty-first century Charlotte to the rich history of Croft and North Mecklenburg County.