Magnolia District Schools

American Ridge School- The American Ridge school is dated at 1867 and was located about two miles out American Ridge.  

Benwood School- This school was located near the Schupbach Cemetery at Schupbach Ridge.  The date of the school is unknown. (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717572,n,benwood%20school.cfm)

Brooklyn Public School- This building is still standing ahd is the location of the central district for Wetzel County Schools.  It is on the corner of Foundry Street and Raber Lane.

Central Public School- The Central Public School was originally the 1901 Magnolia High School.  

Coal Stone School- This school was located near the headwaters of Long Run, east of Green Hill Road.  

Doolin School- The Doolin School deed is dated at 1884.  This school was located about 2.5 miles up Doolin Run. (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717669,n,doolin%20school.cfm)

Gravel Bottom School-  This school was located in Steelton, near the location of the current New Martinsville School.

Greenlee School-  This school was located on Dutch Run Road off of Paden Fork Road atop the hill from Paden City.  The deed is dated at 1889. (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717595,n,greenlee%20school.cfm)

Green Hill School- This school was located on Limestone Ridge near the intersection of Tarpin  Ridge and Limestone Ridge Road. The students who attended Green Hill School had homecomings on the Sunday before Labor Day, organized by the Green Hill Homecoming Association.  The Wetzel County Genealogy of 1983 references the 1982 homecoming and cites a picture from that year. Those pictured were Minnie Weltz, Howard Riggenbach, Louella Durig, Minnie Durig, William E. Roggenbach, Wilma Cochran, Daisy Thornton, Elda Ritz, Marie Berger, Louise Bieuer, Ana Durig, Opal Riggenbach, Lydia McIntyre, Hazel Frei, Mabel Potts, Doris White, PAul Riggenbach, Pearl Goddard, Pearl Frei, Ed Riggenbach, Carol Neff, Lloyd Durig, Clyde Berger, Earl Riggenbach, William Renner, Daniel Blair, George Riggenbach, William O. Bland, and Paul Carpenter.  (Wetzel County Genealogy 1983, page 27)

Limestone School- Limestone School is also known as Green Hill School.  According to lists from Wetzel County Board of Education, this school was founded in 1867. (Refer to List of All Schools)

Magnolia High School- The first Magnolia High School was built in 1880 near Martin and North Street. It was in service for just over twenty years when it was replaced by a new school in 1901.  This new school was built right behind the first school. This school was in service until 1925 when a new school was built at a different location on Maple and Locust Avenues.  This high school remained in service until 198_ (Wetzel County Genealogy 1983, page 28.

Mount Jacobs School- (AKA Tarpin Ridge School)The deed is dated for 1880.  This school is about two miles from Route 7 out Blake Hill and Tarpin Ridge.  (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717704,n,mount%20jacobs%20school.cfm)

New Martinsville schools-  The first school was at the Williams Farm.  The next school is believed to have been in a small building behind the McCaskey house which was located on the lot where the Peoples Bank now stands.  Another school was located at the corner of Martin and Jefferson Avenues in a carding factory. Additionally, there was a private school on South Main Street called New Martinsville Academy. (Wetzel County Genealogy 1983, page 27)

Paden City Colored School- This was a one-room school located next to the present location of Quality Aluminum.  The school was discontinued and the African American students were integrated after the 1954 Supreme Court Case, Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, KS.  

From Peggy Hunter: “To understand why there was a “colored” school in Paden City… at that time it was the law in WV.  In 1872 a new constitution was drafted for the state. Among the things in that new constitution, it stated in Article CII.8 EDUCATION… “White and colored persons shall not be taught in the same school.”  It was not until May 17, 1954, that the U.S. Supreme Court declared that segregated schools were unconstitutional.”

From Marlene Fetty: “In the early 50’s there were still colored children going to school there, then the 1st [black student], Ted Garrison, came to the high school.  I’m not sure how many were [enrolled] in the school at that time. Then all black students came to regular school at that time. A cousin of Ted’s. Ace Lyle, graduated and played football for the Chicago Bears a while.  Ted graduated and was a football coach at Athens. They were a smart family and well liked. To us there was no difference, just friends.

From Roger Williams: “I attended class in the building in 1968 (Teacher- Mrs. Freda Hunt) as part of overcrowding issue in Paden City (lack of available classroom space).  [The] building [was] used [as] a church for number of years and teachers (sic) desk was up on the podium/pulpit.”

From Peggy Hunter: “It was in use in 1952, according to a newspaper account.  I am sure that it closed within the next year or so.”

From Lark Higginbotham: “The building that was the “black” school is no longer standing.  The Quality Aluminum building was the “black” church. The school building was two buildings north of the church.  I attended third grade with Mrs. Rapp in what was the black school. I also attended 6th grade in the Quality Aluminum building “

From Sue Miles: “The colored school in PC (Paden City) was closed before it was legislated to do so.  Three of the students were in the same class I was in and Ted Garrison was the Rookie Teacher of the year in Ohio our first year out of college.  His sister Florence Garrison, went to Pittsburgh where she is now retired as the lead accountant with a law firm there and still goes in once in a while to help them.  She came to PC to visit with four of us gal friends two years ago at reunion time. Their aunt, Pat Lyle, received the Distinguished Alumni Award (same age) during PC Alumni weekend 2007.  She is retired from a federal agency in DC. A lot of the guys played basketball with Ted too.

From Ruth Cross Dunn: “When [the African American students] reached 8th grade they had to go to Wheeling for high school.  In 9th grade there were 3 or 4 students, the boys and girls were divided and Ted Garrison was elected president of the boys class.  I think in total there were 8 or 9 students who came into the system at that time.”

Paden City- The first school was built in 1847, near the Ohio river at the west end of present Main Street.  The first teacher’s name was Schoolcraft. In 1870, a better school was built on land donated by James Stevens.  Its location was near North 4th Avenue. In 1912 a four-room school was built at the current location of the old high school, where the current high school is located. (Wetzel County Genealogy 1983, page 14)  

By the 1950s there were two schools.  In the school which is the current location of the Health Department students who lived in the Tyler County jurisdiction of Paden City attended grades 1-6.  There was another school which students in the Wetzel County jurisdiction attended. It was located at the present elementary school location. Additionally, Paden City High School held grades 1-5 and 7-12.  For grades 7-12, all Paden City students, regardless of whether they lived in Tyler or Wetzel, went to Paden City High School. It was strange how this was set up. (Fay Shank, personal interview. 5/10/19)

 

Pleasant Valley- This school was located on Route 180 near the Pleasant Valley Church.  According to the Herman Bradley Lis, this school is dated at 1800. (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/features/historical,class,school,scfips,54103,startrow,1.cfm)

Shadyside School- This school was located around 2.5 miles south of New Martinsville.  It was a one-room schoolhouse heated by a large stove. According to the account of Sybil Hutchison Moore, Mr. Hugh Farmer was the teacher around 1905.  Other teachers were Miss Dolly Glenn and Miss Ida Van Camp.

Steelton School- Picture from news paper clipping “Wetzel will decide on new school levy” April 4, 1950 Beckley Post Herald

Tarpin Ridge School- See Mount Jacobs School

Union School/ Veto School-  The children of Veto used to cross a swinging bridge to get to the Union School, located on the boundary of Green and Magnolia districts.  Veto had a small train station along the B & O Railroad, three miles east of Route 2 which skirts the Ohio River at New Martinsville. (Wetzel County Genealogy 1983, page 18)

Van Camp School- This school is located near the boarder of Wetzel and Tyler Counties.  (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717643,n,van%20camp%20school.cfm)

Vernon School-  The Vernon School was located out Schupbach Ridge, about .7 miles east past the junction of Slop Hollow.  The deed for this school is dated at 1880. (https://westvirginia.hometownlocator.com/maps/feature-map,ftc,3,fid,1717645,n,vernon%20school.cfm)

Williams Farm (first School)-  The first school was supposed held in the house owned by the Williams family, located on Williams’ Run.  This farm is the land that is across from Bob Evans along Route 2 in New Martinsville. This school was probably established around the early 1850s.  Gravel Point Academy was supposedly built later to replace the school on the Williams Farm.