Welcome
to the Fleetwood Community Center
Fleetwood Community Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization located in beautiful Nelson County, Virginia in the Massies Mill area. Our mission is to enhance lives through education and physical activities for our diverse community. In order to raise money to help restore the historical Fleetwood School for use as a local education center, recreation facility and tourism destination, we host a bi-annual spring and fall trail ride, host an ice cream social, have inside yard sales, music festivals, and etc. The trail ride is made possible through the generosity of private landowners and through the efforts of volunteers in the community.
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Upcoming Events at the Fleetwood Community Center
Spring Trail Ride: April 24-26, 2020 Come enjoy beautiful mountain trails, good food and visit with friends. Registration information may be found by clicking on the red registration button. The menu for Fleetwood Cafe information may be found by clicking on the red Fleetwood Cafe button.
Contributions or Donations: May be made to Fleetwood Community Center c/o Jean Payne, 143 Gunter Hollow Rd., Roseland, Va 22967 Thank you.
Come join your friends for one of the most beautiful camping trail rides on the East Coast. The Friday-Sunday ride includes three days’ riding over private farms and forests with scenic mountain views; two nights of camping on the grounds of the Fleetwood Community Center, along the beautiful Tye River. The cost for the ride is $80 per adult rider and $40 for juniors under 18 and all non-riders. Includes 5 hot meals, bathhouse, horse wash stall, and flat campground. For an additional $10 / person, Thursday arrival is now available! See registration form and schedule and information for details.
Paid registration for the trail ride includes:
Friday: dinner
Saturday: breakfast, lunch (at scenic location on trail), dinner
Sunday: breakfast
You will be camping on the Fleetwood Community Center grounds alongside the beautiful Tye River.
Here are the scheduled trail rides for 2020:
Spring Trail Ride: Friday, April 24th - Sunday, April 26th
Fall Trail Ride: Friday,September 25th-Sunday, September 27th
Ride length by day:
Friday:
Approximately 8 miles
Saturday:
Short ride: 15 - 18 miles
Long ride: 22 - 25 miles
(may include steep grades)
Sunday:
8-10/12 miles
Please note: The trail ride terrain is generally rocky. Please make sure your horses are properly shod.
For more trail ride information email:
Click the buttons to view and download the following:
Friends of Fleetwood
1840
Fleetwood's history pre-dates the Civil War, when Fleetwood Academy, located on route 655, was established in 1840. The academy was a preparatory school for students attending the University of Virginia and Mr. William Pinkerton was the principal.
A Brief History of Fleetwood Community Center
1908
Fleetwood High School was erected on part of Blue Rock Farm, near Roseland. J. A. Hughes, the owner of the property, donated the site and others donated $ 1,250 for the actual structure. This was the first high school to be built in Nelson County and the first to be accredited by the State Board of Education.
1924
Wrights Mill and Massies Mill School were added to Fleetwood.
1930s
Students from Rose Union and Lowesville High Schools were added, rendering the building inadequate.
1934
With money from the State Literacy Fund and the Federal Emergency Administrative of Public Works, Nelson County bought five acres of land above Cow Hollow, two miles west of route 151 on route 56 in Massies Mill, and built the present two-and-a-half-story brick school. The building housed 14 classrooms, library, music room, office, kitchen and auditorium. Former principals include Mr. Walter Hoffman, Sr., French Boone, Norman Flythe, Walter Edwards, Wayne Mahanes, George Brown, Edward Rothgeb and Malcolm Drumheller. The school served students in grades one through eleven.
1955
The current Nelson County High School was completed. Fleetwood became an elementary school and served grades one through seven.
1969
Nelson County schools were fully integrated. Students from grades one through three at the Fleetwood School and Massies Mill School were combined at the Massies Mill site. Grades four through six were combined at the Fleetwood site. Students in grades seven and eight around the county were moved to the new Nelson Junior High School, formerly the Nelson Memorial High School.
1995
With the opening of Tye River Elementary School, Fleetwood and Massies Mill were no longer used as schools. Fleetwood became a community center owned and operated by the community center board.
Currently
The center hosts spring and fall horseback trail rides as major fundraisers and local religious groups have used the facility for worship functions. The fields at Fleetwood have also been host to many Dixie Youth baseball games as well as soccer games and softball practices. It has also hosted bluegrass music concerts, art activities, exercise activities, and family and class reunions.
For more information on how you can help restore and maintain this historic building, and make it more useful to the surrounding area, please contact Barbara Myers at 434-277-8235.
Wants and Needs:
In order to help us restore the building, we could use the following items:
roofing tar
fluorescent bulb
tables (6' and 8', foldable, plastic, with matching chairs
porta potty
ice cream machines
commercial fridge
commercial freezer
stand-up fans
Get in Touch
Email:
For Trail Ride Information
Phone: 434 - 907 - 8813
Email:
For Building Rental Information
Contact Richard Gentry- 434-277-8801
The Fleetwood Community Center building and grounds are available for events at $ 250 per day from May 1st to October 1st every year.
Love the location?
1357 Crabtree Falls Highway
Massies Mill, Virginia 22967