Modest one-room schoolhouses were the educational anchors of rural communities in bygone eras, including the former Buffalo/Claylick School in northeast Kentuckly.
Tag: School
While driving back from Traverse City on a rainy Saturday afternoon, I initially passed by an architectural relic. I quickly turned the car around and returned for a few snapshots in the rain.
On a brisk, gray day, I set out to traverse the less-traveled paths of north-central West Virginia, a journey through time and history.
West Virginia may be regarded as a state centered around the coal industry, but it was the oil and gas industry that provided the state’s first economic boom and drove the development of the north-central part of the state.
A late autumn trip to West Virginia’s Greenbrier Valley isn’t complete without a visit to a few abandoned or forgotten landmarks.
My friend Ben and I were excited to explore West Virginia, aiming to visit locations featured in the Fallout 76 video game. Despite Ben’s tight schedule, we hoped to see key sites like the New River Gorge, Seneca Rocks, Mollohan Mill, and Dolly Sods. However, the extensive driving distances and winding mountain roads required us to condense our plans.
The mountains and hollers of West Virginia are dotted with the remnants of communities past, reminders of earlier times when gossip was exchanged at post offices, when general stores were locally owned, when education was tailored, and when neighbors knew their neighbors. Braxton County is no exception, with the region’s heyday coming in the early parts of the 20th century when employment was mostly centered around extractive industries: coal mining, timbering, and natural gas production. Its population peaked decades ago with nearly 24,000 residents. Today, just a few small cities call this mostly rural county over 12,000 home: Sutton, Gassaway, Burnsville, and Flatwoods, primarily nestled along the Elk River and Interstate 79. With 516 square miles to explore, you don’t have to travel far to get away from the hubbub of activity, and that’s where you encounter Wilsie. Located at the juncture of two branches of Dry Fork, not much remains other than an old general store and an old post office that closed in mid-2005, surrounded by the remnants of an old school and several shuttered houses. Interestingly, the false front of the general store was cut off and tagged with the name of the store and a reminder that it was “closed for remodeling.” It doesn’t appear that any work has been completed on the buildings which are in a state of severe disrepair. In the vicinity of Wilsie is a long-abandoned two classroom school, one of hundreds that dotted the hollers and hilltops of the state. Simple…
Tucked away under the dense canopy of McDowell County, West Virginia, lies the forgotten Prunty Trade School.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, West Virginia had thousands of schools that were gradually closed through consolidations. The isolated Prosperity School atop Great Flat Top Mountain remained open far longer than others.
It’s been a long ten years since we had a white Christmas down in northeast Kentucky. I took advantage of the serenity and beauty to stop at Limeville.
A building at the long-closed Frenchburg Presbyterian School burned to the ground around 1:30 PM on Saturday, April 15.
Sometimes, I revisit an old friend and discover something new, such as the long-abandoned Jefferson School in Wheeling, West Virginia. I had not discovered much about the historic structure other than its demolition in 2013.
Several years ago, I undertook a meandering journey through the Winding Gulf coalfield in West Virginia, delving into the history of this once-vibrant region.
Concluding a journey through the Rust Belt, the exploration of a temple, observatory, and factory en route to Cleveland, Ohio, provided a fitting conclusion to the trip.
From the window of my hotel room in Beckley, I could see the leaves billowing down the street among a fine rain punctuated by dark, gloomy skies. It was perfect road trip weather,
Back when it wasn’t in the coldest days of the winter, I walked around the former Sue Bennett College in London, Kentucky. The college, in operation between 1897 through 1997, was affiliated with the Women’s Division of the General Board of Global Ministries, the national organization of the United Methodist Church. It began as an elementary school before becoming a two-year college.
Susan Orlean, of the New Yorker, once said that living in a rural region exposes the body and mind to marvelous things: the natural world, the “particular texture” of small-town life, and the “exhilarating experience” of open space. It’s not difficult to argue that. Located in a remote town in the hills of eastern Kentucky, Hazel Green Academy, set among the hardwoods and abutting flowing pastures, opened to students in 1880. The private school offered a good education to the under-served and boasted low tuition rates and a stepping stone to college and “a higher sphere in life.” The school’s curriculum consisted mostly of college preparatory courses, and students were expected to participate in religious activities—not at all surprising as it was operated in part by the Christian Woman’s Board of Mission of Kentucky and then the United Christian Missionary Society, a branch of the Disciples of Christ Christian Church. Time marched on. By the mid-1920s, the Academy boasted a 212-acre farm, a used clothing store, a small hospital, and a kindergarten, along with a gymnasium, administration building, classrooms, and an arts and crafts complex. But free public education began sweeping through the state throughout the early 20th century, and by 1929, Hazel Green only offered courses for middle and high school students. In 1965, grades 7 and 8 were dropped because of low demand. Hazel Green Academy became an independent institution affiliated with the Christian Church in 1971 and began a major push to strengthen its fundraising and recruitment efforts.…
The Windsor School, located in Cincinnati’s Walnut Hills neighborhood, opened in 1888 but closed in 2004 after years of decline.
Fairview School is located in Cincinnati, Ohio and was constructed from 1888 to 1890 in the Romanesque Revival architectural style. A three-story addition, designed by local architect Edward J. Schulte, was built in 1957-58. The addition was meant to be expanded once the original structure was razed, but declining enrollment led to those plans never coming to light.