The Mt. Tom School was located in the eastern part of Linville District on the Mountain Road leading from Keezletown through Mountain Valley. The Mt. Tom School served as a school in two different locations. The original school was built on land deeded to the Linville District school trustees on March 20, 1877 by John T. Rimel and wife and was located on the west side of the Mountain Road a short distance north of Fridley's Gap. The school first opened for the 1877-78 school session. According to Marie Arrington in her book, Mountain Valley People, the "old folks in the neighborhood referred to the school as Sassafras Seminary and Stovepipe Stellinary".

In 1906, presumably because of a school population shift, the school was torn down and rebuilt about one mile south of Fridley's Gap on the east side of the Mountain Road. Land for the new location was deeded to the Linville District Board by Ada Layman on February 22, 1906. Apparently the school had difficulty maintaining the legal average of pupils and, according to Marie Arrington, the school board minutes of September 12, 1927 noted that "the Mt. Tom patrons again made protest against closing their school and objected to a transportation offer made by the county." The offer included transportation to the nearby Trinity school and adding an additional teacher at that school. The patrons apparently prevailed as the Mt. Tom school continued until it was closed after the 1942-43 school session. Even though the school had difficulty maintaining a legal average, the only year that the school was not opened was the 1924-25 school session.

There are no records of early teachers at the Mt. Tom school but the teachers known to have taught at Mt. Tom in later years are:

1911-12 H. E. Templeman
1912-13 Nora Armentrout
1913-14 Beulah Higgs
1914-15 W. F. Marshall
1915-16 Mabel White
1916-17 Mary Pugh
1917-18 Myrtle Bennett
1918-19 Vada Mercer
1919-20 Fannie Pope
1920-21 Julia Layman
1921-24 (three sessions) W. F. Marshall
1924-25 (not opened)
1925-26 Angelene Chapman
1926-27 Marie Driver
1929-31 (two sessions) Carrie E. Kline (Showalter)
1931-32 Camilla Dovel
1932-35 (three sessions) Andra White
1935-37 (two sessions) Ella Mae Layman
1937-43 (six sessions) Lida M. Henton

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