Mine Spring School (1908? - 1951)

CURRENTLY SERVES AS A MENNONITE CHURCH. ACCESS THROUGH DRIVEWAY WHEN SERVICES ARE NOT IN SESSION. DO NOT TRAVERSE PROPERTY.

The Mine Spring School, which opened to students in the Kimsey Run area at the turn of the 19th century, and has always served as a community hub. Used for formal education, Sunday afternoon preaching, 4-H meetings, music competitions and cake walks, the site was also a part of Hardy County’s efforts to support nationwide agriculture endeavors during the second World War. Today, the former school building retains much of its original character and is owned by the Salem Mennonnite Church. Though it is believed that the building may have been moved at some point, the hand pump used for sourcing water can still be seen just across the road from the front porch. The former Mine Spring School continues to serve as a place for gathering within the Kimsey Run community.

This is a Mountain Heritage Trails project made possible through the support of the Hardy County Convention & Visitors Bureau, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps program, and the West Virginia University Fulcrum Project.

Heritage Trail Project Coordinator: Shefa Nola Benoit

Researchers/Fact Checkers: Eva Blankenhorn & Shefa Nola Benoit

The Mine Spring School house is remembered by students and community members alike as being a staple of Kimsey Run. The Mine Spring School that stands today is believed to have opened between 1882 and 1908, after an older building was torn down. The quaint white building, with its large side windows and covered front porch is remembered to have been warmed by a large pot belly stove in winter months, fueled by wood donated by local farmers. A teacher’s platform, a recitation bench and Blackboards occupied the front of the room, and boys and girls sat on separate sides of the aisle at what former students remembered as “old-time desks.” One student, who attended the school from 1908 to 1916 remembered days beginning at 8:00am and lasting until 4:00pm in the afternoon, with two recesses encouraging play around the school and sledding in the winter months. Lunches were packed by students, and water was provided from the hand pump outside of the building. 

Besides traditional school days where reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic and history were taught, parents were also invited to holiday parties and celebrations on the last day of school. Community members also used the space for other events and meetings. 

The local 4-H group met regularly in the Mine Spring schoolhouse when school wasn’t in session. 4-H, an agricultural group that was started in 1902 with a mission of racing rural youth, was popular in Hardy County, and was active in the Kimsey’s Run. The 4-H group planned and hosted events like the Old Fiddlers Contest in May of 1939 that celebrated music and musicians in the area. 

The Mine Spring School was also host to one of forty different “Food For Freedom” meetings being held across Hardy County in February of 1942. These meetings, sponsored by the United States Department of Agriculture and hosted in communities by county agents and the Homemakers Association, called on farmers of America to support the Second World War effort through their crops and yields. This nationwide program was supported by agricultural communities much like those in Hardy County, West Virginia, which even today remains a hub for poultry and cattle farming. Rationing, or limiting consumption of goods so that excess could be diverted to the ongoing war effort, was considered a newfound duty of every American and the importance of farming and agriculture was recognized at a national level. 

Driving past the school house today, it’s not too hard to imagine what a staple this structure was in the community.

Whitson, Suzanne. Remembering Early Hardy County, WV Schools: The 1976 Bicentennial Project. Moorefield, West Virginia: Hardy County Board of Education, 1976.

Bradfield, Beatrice. “Four-H Club in Meeting.” The Moorefield Examiner, October 4, 1939.

United States Department of Agriculture. Food For Freedom- Informational Handbook. 1942. 

Bradfield, Beatrice. “Old Fiddlers' Contest At Mine Spring School.” The Moorefield Examiner, May 31, 1939.

MacMaster, Richard K. 1986. The History of Hardy County, 1786-1986. Moorefield, W. Va.?: Hardy County Public Library.