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There were two Lost City School buildings on Upper Cove Road. Both were two-room, wood-framed structures. The first one built in 1894 and became a residence. The second school was built in 1925, just further down the road from the first one about 1/2 mile.School days at Lost City School were consistent with those of other schools at that time. Each day began with the pledge, hymns, and devotions before embarking on standard studies which included English, history, math, science and more. Students brought their own lunches and had recess daily for both physical activity and socialization. Water was collected from a nearby stream. Depending upon funding, the school year could be anywhere from six to eight months and began at 9:00 AM and ended by 4:00 PM and only went to the 8th grade.The Moorefield Examiner has regular announcements about the Lost City School spelling bees which occurred with regularity. In approximately 1935, the students of received bus transportation to and from school. Before then, like all early school houses, students walked to school.The school also served the community beyond the education of their children. It hosted a variety of social meetings and boxed suppers. Even after it closed in 1966, the structure remained in service to the community by first becoming a voting precinct, community action branch center and now, a community clothing bank. Some traditions die hard!

PRIVATELY OWNED COMMUNITY BUILDING. ACCESS TO DRIVEWAY. DO NOT TRAVERSE PROPERTY.There were two lost city schools between 1894 - 1966, both two-room, wood-framed structures. In addition to instructing students through 8th grade for six to eight months each year, the school served as a community hub, as it does today. The Lost City School is now the Lost City Community Clothing Bank (which is temporarily closed) and provides needed essentials to the community.This is a Mountain Heritage Trails project made possible through the support of the Hardy County Convention &amp; Visitors Bureau, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps program, and the West Virginia University Fulcrum Project.Heritage Trail Project Coordinator: Shefa Nola BenoitResearcher: Shefa Nola Benoit

Lost City School (1894 - 1966)

From the 1800s through the mid-1900s, most of Hardy County's schools were one- or two-room schoolhouses, built in partnership with landowners, churches, the surrounding community, and the County school board. At its height, there were approximately 124 schoolhouses in the county serving their surrounding communities.

What was once a county dotted with single room schoolhouses that doubled and tripled as community hubs, dance halls, and places of worship, Hardy County began modernizing its approach to education as early as 1909. In 1903, West Virginia statewide legislation set uniform examination procedures that increased the standard of teacher certification, and, just a few years later, interest in a high school began to grow in the county. Moorefield High School opened in 1916 and, as technology evolved and student populations increased, so did demand for an education that was acceptable. 

Improved facilities and improved roads that could better accommodate buses and travel increased attendance at consolidated schools. From 1927 to 1928, the number of rural schools in Hardy County dropped from 105 to 85, and the number of consolidated schools increased. A grade and high school also opened up in nearby Wardensville, and the updated curriculum and larger classes for each individual grade appealed to students and their parents. Many of these rural schools became obsolete by the 1940s and '50s, but their structures remain today as a window into days gone. 

While brick and electricity replaced logs and wood stoves in the classroom, many of the core classes and principles that were taught in rural schools like the Sugar Grove School remained the same well into the mid-20th century. 

According to the 1961 Handbook for Hardy County Teachers, music education was still a staple in the classroom, just like it had been for students at the Sugar Grove School. Though teachers in the 1960s had access to better equipment and larger class sizes, the singers and art of performance remained the same. Connecting through song was a universal opportunity, regardless of where and when it was happening. 

Due to Hardy County's age and ties to old Virginia, it has been involved in the evolution of education in both Virginia and West Virginia (post 1863). Public education had been unorganized and unvalued pre-1875. “To begin with the year 1875 and compare educational statistics and history, we find an increasing public sentiment in favor of the public school system, and that there has been gradual progress along all educational lines.”

The first effort to organize education was the Virginia Literary Fund in 1810. This government aid assisted in paying tuition for poor white students. Little changed in the education system until 1846. It was then that legislation passed to authorize school commissioners to use local taxes to supplement state aid for the poor.

West Virginia, once a state of its own in 1863, set to regulate education within its borders. Both the 1863 and 1872 constitutions had established public school institutions, although much control still belonged to the individual county and towns.

Schools today have to pass levies and apply for federal and state grants to build new school buildings, but in 1859 things were much simpler. According to the account of William C. Baker and Isaac Frye, the new log schoolhouse for the Wardensville community cost $85.44, roughly $3,000 of today's money. “Hardy county, like others, began with log houses and some of the rudest kind, furnished with inconvenient and uncomfortable desks, if any, maybe slabs or puncheon benches, without backs, and possibly a kind of shelf which extended round the walls and served the pupils in writing.”

This trail allows you to view the structures that still stand (or are formally marked) while imagining a time when paved roads, motorized transportation, and culverts bridging streams did not exist. The woods were bigger, and schools could be as much as two miles away!

Hardy County is 584 square miles. Surprisingly, when asking for directions, Siri may tell you the mileage by crow and then by car - often a significant difference because of our beautiful mountains. Finding these historic schoolhouses is a good excuse to explore some of West Virginia's famous country roads that you would normally never use. Due to the time it takes to traverse our roads, this trail has also been organized into five smaller tours. Each of these tours can take a couple of hours, so be sure to soak in our bucolic scenery and enjoy the winding roads ahead of you!  

IMPORTANT NOTES - PLEASE READ EACH ONE: 

*DRIVE CAREFULLY! Our roads are winding and we share them with local residents, wild critters, hikers, and bikers. Take the weather into account as well. This is not a race, so take your time; be in the present as you peruse the past. 

*CONSIDER ALL PROPERTY PRIVATE and abide by trespassing laws. Those properties that have the owner's permission for you to walkabout and peer through windows are noted.

*LEAVE NO TRACE. It's simple; take your trash with you. Leave our roads as pristine as you found them.

*DOWNLOAD OUR COLORING PAGES. Add a pack of crayons and let younger adventurers color actual schoolhouses as they identify them along the trail. You can find these at (URL).

Now, let's hit these country roads!

How do you decide where to build a school? During the early 1900’s it depended on a couple of things. Where land was available, proximity to school aged children to constitute a school, accessibility to the larger community. Transportation, financing, and attendance were all large factors in determining school location, especially schools in the mountains of West Virginia’s Hardy County. To help cut down on the travel and make the building more accessible to as many as possible a central location was chosen for construction. In the more rural places of West Virginia schools were established based on need. When a local community had enough youth to require the construction of a school the board of education would provide funds for the community to construct one and a teacher would be hired. Funds would come from state and local taxes to pay the teachers but not always to build the buildings. Commonly the community which wanted the school would donate both the supplies and labor to construct them.With the destruction of the Terra Alta School on the opposite side of the mountain it was decided by those living near Fravels Run that they would build a new school for their students to attend closer to home. With land being purchased by Saul Wilkins from Lula Hefner this site was chosen for the construction of a new one room schoolhouse. While present day most of us take the bus or car to school most students who attended Fravels Run School walked. School would last between 5 and 6 months beginning in October. That would mean not only did they have to walk in nice weather but the cold and snow as well. As long as the teacher could make it, school was in session. Most parents would take pity on the children however not wanting them to arrive frost bitten for their morning geography lesson and would bring them on horseback or sleigh/carriage during the colder months. The teacher would also typically travel to school by horseback.The school building served as a space for multiple occasions including spelling bees.Parents even came and competed against their children. Box supers, preaching festivals, and hymn songs were held at the school as well. It was not unusual in general for school houses to be used on Sundays for the purpose of prayer and Fravels Run was no different.Even though the school closed in 1946 its location on the landscape and its legacy can still tell us much about the period of one room schoolhouses. They were central to the community and the community came together to build them. But in the rural mountains of Hardy County transportation would always be an issue no matter how central a building was constructed. The lengths students would travel as well as the work and donation of goods to building the school show how important education was to those of the Fravels Run area.

PRIVATE PROPERTY. EXERCISE CAUTION AS YOU OBSERVE FROM THE ROAD.This building is the first structure on the right on Luther Heishmann Road (off of Big Ridge Road) in Baker. A one-room school in the mountains is common throughout West Virginia and especially in Hardy County. Fravels Run School built in 1899 is one of these schools which allowed students to get an education from grades 1-6. This building was built on land purchased for construction of a new school by the families of those who attended the Terra Alta School, which was destroyed by fire. Before its closure in 1946, many students learned, played, and made friends here. It wasn’t uncommon for students to arrive for class after walking up to two miles just to get to school. In between classes, students could be seen using the neighboring four-acre lot to keep themselves occupied with all sorts of games. No matter the weather, school was kept in session as long as the teacher could make it to the schoolhouse. This is a Mountain Heritage Trails project made possible through the support of the Hardy County Convention &amp; Visitors Bureau, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps program, and the West Virginia University Fulcrum Project.Heritage Trail Project Coordinator: Shefa Nola BenoitResearchers: Nathaniel Bauber &amp; Shefa Nola Benoit

Fravels Run School (1899 - 1946)

It’s no wonder how the Terra Alta School, which once stood on Big Ridge overlooking miles and miles of rolling pastures and scenic mountain scapes, got its name. Translated from Italian or Latin to mean “high ground.” Though today only a stone foundation footprint of the school house remains, Terra Alta School was once a well used and well-loved for former students and community members. Thought to have opened in 1902, the school educated pupils for over forty years before closing in 1948. Former students recall their days beginning at 9:00am and lasting until 4:00pm for four to six months out of the year, but often adjusting their schedules based on the weather. Each school day began with devotions and was followed by reading, writing, arithmetic, civics, health, spelling and agriculture, which was a staple of life practically everywhere in Hardy County. Recess and time outside is fondly remembered by former students, until the winter months when the heat of the wood stove was more welcoming than shoes and coats soaked by knee-high snows. According to local newspapers, the school hosted Halloween parties and annual socials to raise money for the school and libraries. And while homemade goodies and a quality education are certainly worth traveling for, it is a wonder how students and locals navigated roads in and around the area without the modern conveniences of four-wheel drive and GPS units. Reva Souder Kave, who taught at Terra Alta from 1935-1936 recalled the challenges of navigating the area after a flood in the spring of 1936. She remembered roads and bridges being completely washed out, and having to walk four to five miles to meet her brother, who would pick her up on weekends.As you drive up this road in search for the remaining stone foundation, imagine making this trek on foot, as a youngster, and in various elements! It's a daunting and humbling thought and a great conversation to have with current students who walk short and usually paved paths to school.Terra Alta School, like many other rural schools, were strategically built in places convenient for those who lived and worked in the immediate area, hollow or ridge. Unable to travel to larger towns, parents and community members often took education for their children into their own hands, and built simple school structures for local learners. Though the locations were often not far from most family’s homes, the trek to and from class could still be treacherous. Some roads that were initially created for logging and timber productions helped facilitate transportation and laid the groundwork for modern road networks throughout the county. Though a number of logging and timber production operations remain in Hardy County today, no students are navigating the timber roads of years past to attend class at Terra Alta school. New adventurers who make it to the spot where the school once stood are treated with fantastic views and a slice of local history.

<h3>Terra Alta School Road is a long road that gets difficult to traverse and dead ends.</h3> FOOT ACCESS AVAILABLE. PARK ON ROAD. LEAVE NO TRACE.Though little remains of Terra Alta School which once stood at the crest of Big Ridge, the stone foundation and basic wooden marker serves as a reminder of the schoolhouse’s past and the families that lived and worked on the ridge. While seemingly isolated from other rural communities, the Terra Alta School and Big Ridge is connected to the rest of Hardy County through the logging and agricultural industry and roads of the region, which have evolved and changed with the landscape. Some of the area’s first major improved road networks were petitioned for as early as the 1860s and as local industry grew, so did the demand for connection and transportation. Terra Alta students, whose families may have supported local logging and timber industry, relied on their own two feet, and maybe the occasional sled or horse to help them traverse this beautiful, yet daunting terrain.This is a Mountain Heritage Trails project made possible through the support of the Hardy County Convention &amp; Visitors Bureau, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps program, and the West Virginia University Fulcrum Project.Heritage Trail Project Coordinator: Shefa Nola BenoitResearchers: Eva Blankenhorn &amp; Shefa Nola Benoit

Terra Alta School (1902 - 1948)

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.

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 &amp; Visitors Bureau, the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area AmeriCorps program, and the West Virginia University Fulcrum Project.Heritage Trail Project Coordinator: Shefa Nola BenoitResearchers/Fact Checkers: Eva Blankenhorn &amp; Shefa Nola Benoit

Historic Schoolhouses of Hardy County, WV - East Central Tour

Lost City School (1894 - 1966)

Introduction

Images

Backstory and Context

Sources