The town of Vardaman was founded in 1904.
Early Mayors and Clerks
1904: Mayor J.T. McCord, Clerk J.E Powell
1907: Mayor E.I. Hawkins, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
1909: Mayor T.W. Young, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
1911: Mayor E.I. Hawkins, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
The original Vardaman school was north of town. It was the first 2-story brick building in the county. It was torn down in the 1940s by Calhoun City Baptist Church who had purchased it and reused the bricks.
1913: Mayor R.A. Gable, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
1915: Mayor A.M. Berry, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
1917: Mayor A.M. Berry, Clerk J.E. Whitehorn
1921: Mayor J.R. McCord, Clerk J.D. Walton
1924: Mayor M.M. Stevenson, Clerk M.F. Young
1925: Mayor M.M. Stevenson, Clerk F.C. Vanhorn
1927: Mayor R.E. Gilder, Clerk J.L. Garmany
Later mayors included J.E. Whitehorn, Roscoe McCord, George LeCornu, Howard Ferguson, Charlie LeCornu, Billy Paul Spencer, John Lucas, Earl Gable, Ann C. Gibson, A.G. Gibson Jr., Lloyd Smith and James Casey.
First Baptist Church History
The First Baptist Church in Vardaman was organized September 19, 1905 with Rev. J.R. Summers, Rev. J.F. McKibben and G.W. Riley present. There were nine charter members: W.S. Johnson, Mrs. W.L. Armstrong, J.E. Powell, Susan Powell, J.D. Walton, W.L. Armstrong, Miss Pearl Armstrong, Mrs. M.E. Johnson and Mrs. Sallie Walton.
The people who attended the church in the early years were both Methodist and Baptist. The first church building was completed in 1908.
First Telephone System
The Board of Aldermen granted J.M. Edmundson a franchise to erect the first telephone system in Vardaman on April 3, 1928.
True Stories from Essie Whitehorn Cochran
“We had a passenger train twice a day and a freight train once a day for a number of years. The excitement for local young people was to go see the train come in at 2:30 Sunday afternoon and see who got on and off.
“One night Mr. and Mrs. Murray McCord gave 10 or 12 of us young girls a hen party. We were having such a good time when all of a sudden the window raised up. The boys had gotten on to it. They threw a big red rooster with his neck picked and a big bow of red ribbon around him. The boys crowed. We all ran in the other room scared to death.”
The First Train
Sherman Plunk came down on the first train. He said women were running around on the train wondering if they could stop the thing, then when it stopped they wondered if they would ever get it started again. He said it ran so slow you could pick blackberries on the side of the track. The first train arrived at Vardaman November 12, 1904.
Beat Two Supervisors
Wes Edmondson, R.G. “Bob” Young (3 terms); B.F. “Forest” Spratlin (2 terms), Emerson Tedder (2 terms), Bill Blue (8 terms), Howard Morgan (6 terms).
Inmon Supermarket
Inmon Supermarket opened in 1959, following the death of Edward Bowling in an automobile accident. Bowling and Norman Inmon were business partners for 18 years. Norman’s son Bobby founded Inmon Tax Service in 1963. Norman retired in 1975. Rudolph Smith was an employee and store manager for 16 years prior to his death in 1976.
Vardaman School History
The first school was organized in Vardaman in 1904 by Prof. Powell who later served as a physician in Pittsboro.
The facility consisted of Principal Herman “Cub” Holland, Lucy Street-Grammar School, Lillian Stevenson McCord-intermediate, Denise Norris-primary and Ethel Mancil, music teacher.
The school property consisted of a large 2-story brick building, which was the only brick building in the county at the time. It contained four large recitation rooms, one more room and auditorium. Vardaman High School and all its contents were lost to fire in February 1957. The loss was estimated at $200,000. The school had about $20,000 worth of insurance.
Elementary children were moved to the Baptist Church so the high school children could use the elementary school. The school building was erected in 1940 after the school moved from the north side of town.
The current Vardaman High School building was erected in 1959 at a cost of $255,000.
Sweet Potato Festival
The first Vardaman Sweet Potato Festival was held in 1974, when Gov. Bill Waller helped dub the town as the “Sweet Potato Capital of the World.”
Waller was named the first “Tater Boy” at the inaugural festival banquet.
Kathy Tedder, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Tedder was the first Sweet Potato Queen.
Mrs. Laudrey Alexander won the first Governor’s Cup for her sweet potato casserole.
The first festival culminated with the Sweet Potato Bowl game between Vardaman and Smithville. Lt. Gov. William Winter attended the game, which was won by the Rams 34-20.
Editor’s note: Contributors to this story included Van Hollis, Essie Whitehorn Cochran, Linda Kay Spencer, James Casey, Calvin Barnett and Barbara Tedder.