Picasa Web Albums - Bill Cunningham

Search Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »

New Features | Help | Sign in

Tunnel School was located up near Folsom. There is a railroad tunnel between Hartzel (now known as Manion Run) and Rinehart. The one room school was by the tunnel on Hartzel on the Wetzel County side, which is why it was also called Hartzel School. It had children in 1st through 8th grades in the 1930s. The teachers, who often walked to the school from Folsom, included Everett Anderson, Florence Edgell, Max Edgell, Bernard Price and Garland Johnson. The school closed around 1944.

School - Falling Timber There were two schools at Fallen Timber. The first one was located near Frank Ice’s home and the current home of Kenny and Sandy Dallison. It had grades 1st through 8th and was attended by students in the very early 1900s. The second school was built near the Newt Fisher home and was in operation in the 1920s through the 1950s. Teachers for Grades 1st through 8th included Billy Eastham, Dan King, Russ Fisher, Thelma Swartz, Max Edgell, Gilbert Moore, Red Snodgrass, Robert Johnston, Madeline Shreve, Florence Starkey and Don Dennison. It is still standing and currently being used for hay storage.

School - Pricetown This school was located on Pickenpaw Road in Pricetown. During the 1920s, Margaret Reppard was the principal. In the 1950s, children attended for 1st through 6th grades and then went to Smithfield for 7th through 12th grades. The building is still standing and is owned by the Burr Family. Robert Johnson at one time was also a teacher. It was a two room schoolhouse and was still open in 1955.

School - Deadfall - Pricetown, WV This school was built in the 1930s and is located past Pricetown. The building is still there and is used by a group from Ohio as a hunting camp. Teachers included Gypsy Scott, Ida Wyatt, Florence Edgell, Bob Reppard, Leo Ash, Donna Talkington and Russell Fisher. It housed grades 1st through 6th. It closed in the early 1950s. Families attending included Liggetts, Barkers, Kuhens, Hayhursts, and the Duncans. There was another school located in Deadfall in the late 1800s. “Cap” Freeland is remembered as having taught at the earlier school.

School - Folsom - Folsom, WV The old school in Folsom stood in the center of town across the road from G. C. Wallace’s store. It housed grades 1st through 8th and J. L. Roberts was the principal and teacher followed by E. Ross “Red” Snodgrass. It closed operations in 1921 when the newer brick building was built, and was later torn down in 1952. It was used for a time as a feed store by for G. C. Wallace’s store. The new school was built in 1921, according to the cornerstone, and held 1st through 9th, 10th or 11th grades (some people recall the last grade as being the 9th, others recall the 10th or 11th as being the highest grade attended at Folsom). The students attended until 9th grade or later and then caught a train to Smithfield or Wallace for the remaining upper grades. The principal in 1921 was Leroy Fauss and teachers included Lorna Warfield, Betty White, and Miss Lemasters.

Four Mile School Jan 1966

School - Fourmile - North Fork, Pine Grove, WV This school is located past Barker in the community of Four Mile. Students attended from the early 1900s until the late 1950s. Teachers included Harvey Haught, Tincey Haught, Dick Holman, Doris Holman and Etta Haught. It was a two room school that held grades 1st through 8th. The building is still standing, and like many other old schools, is being used for hay storage.

School - Criswell Criswell School was located at the top of Barker Road on what is now referred to as the Hoyt, but is actually Criswell Ridge. Student families, including the Yohos and Rush’s, attended during the 1920s and 1940s. It was a one room school with one teacher. Vic Arman of Hannibal, OH taught there in 1930 for one year. Mr. Arman, now 94 years old, provided the picture that shows the interior of the school and the big pot bellied stove in the corner. He was able to recall the names of the children after 72 years, which is a good example of the special bond a teacher often forms with their students. Lula Dulaney, Ray Hawkins, Claude Derby, and Rosie Sidell were also teachers. It closed sometime after 1946.

School - Vincen

School - Fluharty, Piney, WV

School - Ross - Jim Chapman . Freda and Marie Wichterman taught at the Ross school, which is located up the right hand fork, during the 1940s. It has been turned into a hunting camp and is still standing. There used to be a Baptist Church there and also a Post Office along with the Ross School.

School - Mobley - Mobley, WV This brick school located in the community of Mobley was built in the mid 1920s. At one time, it housed 1st through 8th grades (before 1932), but later was attended by children in grades 1st through 6th. Teachers included Bill Higgins, Bob Merrifield, Ethel Poe, and Herman Bradley as principal. It closed in 1963, but the building is still standing and very well kept by members of the community. It was used at one time to hold square dances for the community. Teachers included Ray Shreve, Bill Higgins, Annette Gilmore and Etta Haught. Mobley was the first school in Wetzel County to organize a school band in 1925. J. L. Roberts, Principal, played the slide trombone, baritone or cornet; Jenny Wood, tuba; Cleveland Wood, bass drum; Goldie Cain, cymbals; Kathryn Allen, snare drum; Louise Snodgrass, slide trombone; Margaret Snodgrass, alto French horn; Effert “Red” Snodgrass, cornet; Lewis Allen, cornet; and Evalene Snodgrass, cornet.

School - Morgan Ridge 19 Apr 1930 - Reader, WV Morgan Ridge School was located up the road from the end of the Reader Bridge (Bland or Fair Hill) and almost clear out to the Ashland Church. Virginia Headley Tracy taught there in 1949, which she believes was the last year for the school. It was a one-room school house.

School - Eightmile 1931 This was located near the Eight Mile Church of Christ, which is still standing and in use. It was in operation in the late 1800s until the mid 1950s. A tornado went through the area in the ‘50s and destroyed most of the building, so the church members tore it down. It housed grades 1st through 8th and teachers included Glenn Gainer, Evelyn Milburn Postlethwait, Frank Cochran, and Joy Headley.

School - Reader 1948 - The first grade school in Reader was held across the creek from Reader where Sam McAllister once lived. The first public school in Reader was built in 1904, according to the History of Wetzel County published by the Wetzel County Genealogical Society in 1983, at which time the school year was three months long. The Board of Education’s list of schools compiled in 1933 shows the Reader School as being established in 1880. One of the pictures shows a wood-sided school in 1900 and the name of Mr. Cochran, Teacher, can be seen on close inspection of the sign the children are holding. Another picture in 1920 shows several students, including Hattie Gadd. 1968-69 the Reader Grade school only housed 1st through 6th, as the 7th and 8th grades were moved to Valley and remained there until 1979-80 when the new Shortline School was built.

School - Pine Grove 1951 Pine Grove had a grade school and high school. Fay Brohard and Joe Long wrote in the History of Wetzel County 1983: “A school was started by a Ms. Hostuttler in her father’s kitchen. Then another teacher by the name of Stacy Stevens taught school, and for the tuition was an outlandish $3.00 for three months of school. A school was finally built below Wilson run, and called Free School, and finally a more modern school was built at the present location.” An old souvenir booklet presented to Mary Curran in 1911 by her teacher, Frank Hall, lists those that graduated from Pine Grove Public Schools Room No. 6 as Earle Simpson, Frienda Feather, Mabel Feather, Mae Feather, Pearl Sands, Daisy Haught, Threasia Daley, Georgia Morgan, Mary Alley, Mary Curran, and Bernice Morgan.

School - Valley High

School - Allister - Reader, WV Allister School was located up Reader’s Run on Ashland Ridge, also called Allister or McAllister Ridge, near the Van Dyne home before the road starts down into Shenango. Glenn Gainer, born in 1907, was the last teacher to teach there, in 1943-44. He also attended as a student and had Hettie Van Dyne as a teacher in 1918. The school was torn down. Gainer also taught at Mt. Morris, Blenn’s Run, Eight Mile Ridge and Piney. He entered the service in 1943 and was killed in 1945 during WWII. His son, Howard, provided several of the school photos for this article.

School - Big Run It was located across from the Big Run P.O. near the Leasure home. It housed grades 1st through 8th and was in operation in the 1920s through the 1950s. Pupils were taught reading, writing, spelling, math, geography, history, civics, West Virginia history, and health. On completion of the eighth grade, students were required to take a two day test on all subjects and would receive a diploma upon passing the test. Teachers included Harry Taylor, Ray Shreve, Jimmy Haught, Harvey Haught, Leroy Roberts, Savannah Pratt, Claude Derby, Russ Fisher, Bud Willey and Milt Rice. The children were first taught out of the Primer, and students who attended Big Run fondly remember a story about Baby Ray and his little dog. The children had to catch a bus and ride to Pine Grove for 9th through 12th grades. Families attending Big Run included the Potts, Lockes, Dulaneys, Willeys, Utts, Morris, Wagner, McDiffitts, Shreves, Rices, Myers, Barrs and Kirkpatricks.

School - Blands Run Blenn Run School - Glenn Gainer was a teacher at Blenn’s Run. This is down over the hill from Ashland Ridge. The Board of Education, along with many locals, also referred to this school as Bland’s Run.