Eldridge Baptist Academy was one of the chain of mountain schools operated by the Home Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention. These schools were part of the Academy movement in education and exerted a worthy influence on the educational welfare of this section of the country, serving a definite need in their time and serving it well. This aspect of education has been scantily treated from a historical viewpoint. It is believed that a true picture of education requires a treatment of these parochial schools.