Fravels Run School (1899 - 1946)

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 & 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: Nathaniel Bauber & Shefa Nola Benoit

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. 

Frye, James K. 1951. “The History of Education in Hardy County, West Virginia.” Dissertation. Marshall College

“Hi-Top.” The Hardy County News, August 1, 1935. 

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