In the early 1900s, Bays Mountain included 2 schools located within current Park boundaries, and another school nearby.

Bays Mountain School (aka Piney Flats School) was located near the current intersection of Lakeside Trail and Sweetgum Trail.

Beech Grove Missionary Baptist Church and School was located in the Front Hollow area, situated between the road and the creek. Beech Grove ended their school year earlier than other schools, causing some students to switch to Bays Mountain School until it dismissed for the summer. Teachers at Beech Grove included Parvin Smith, Sue Mullenix, and Odell Harbour Depew.

Odell Harbour Depew taught at Bays Mountain *and* Beech Grove Schools at different times in her life. At the Bays Mountain School, she was paid $30/month plus $2 for fuel (firewood and kerosene). She taught 1st through 8th grade and had 21 students in 1915.

After Beech Grove closed in the mid-1920s, some of those students then started going to Mountain View School which was farther west and not within current Park boundaries.