The present-day Y.E. Smith Elementary School was built in 1967, but the school's history goes back to the East Durham Graded School on South Driver Street, which opened some time prior to 1913. That building, currently vacant, is still known as the "Old Y.E. Smith School." Currently, Y.E. Smith occupies 5.3-acres on East Main Street, with an official capacity for 402 students in its 46,311-square foot building.