Named for Admiral David Farragut, who was born in this area, Farragut High School began in 1904 as a six-room frame academic building on twelve acres of donated land at the junction of Concord Road and Kingston Pike. Professor Charles E. Koon, the principal the first year, was succeeded by Miss Amanda Stalzfus. In addition to practical agriculture, domestic science, and manual training, the curriculum included Latin, English, and science to prepare students for college entrance. 

 

After the original building was destroyed by fire on March 15, 1906, the community raised over $25,000 for new facilities which included a study hall that would seat 300 and a cottage for the principal. 

 

The first class was graduated in 1907 with one student awarded a diploma. Two students graduated in 1908 and five in 1909. 

 

 When the University of Tennessee’s Dr. Philander P. Claxton became the United States commissioner for education in 1913, his admiration for Farragut led to the publication of Bulletin No. 49, entitled: The Farragut School, A Tennessee Country-Life High School. This bulletin may have helped initiate the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 which provided funds for vocational high schools that would institute agricultural programs. Farragut was named the first Smith-Hughes school in the nation. 

 

Farragut has undergone many additions and modifications over the years. A gymnasium was added in 1917, an elementary school building in 1923, an addition to the high school in 1932, an auditorium in 1938, a new gymnasium in 1941, a new elementary school in 1949, and the final addition to the high school on the original campus in 1959. 

 

By 1976 Farragut had completely outgrown its original campus and was moved to a new $10-million facility on 55 acres overlooking the Farragut community. In 2004 Farragut High School celebrated its 100th birthday. Today Farragut High School is one of the leading high schools in Tennessee; the flagship of a rapidly expanding suburban academic community. Farragut’s campusincludes an intermediate school as well as a middle school which equates to 5,000 students total.