Terra Alta School (1902 - 1948)

Terra Alta School Road is a long road that gets difficult to traverse and dead ends.

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 & 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: Eva Blankenhorn & Shefa Nola Benoit

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. 

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

Tilton, John Littlefield, Prouty, William F., Tucker, Rietz Courtney and Price, Paul H.. Hampshire and Hardy Counties. West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey. Morgantown: Morgantown Print. and binding. 1927.

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

“There Will Be...” The Moorefield Examiner, October 25, 1939.