Second Ward School, 1863–1926
Chapter Two
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“My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope on earth.” —President Abraham Lincoln
Here . . . Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunities Await; Knowledge and Challenge Invites All New Ideas are Initiated; Lasting Impressions and Memories are Born. Old Traditions. Carried On. Paths are Made Available; The Way is Shown, Lives are Molded and Prepared for the Tomorrows. For We Master Our Fate . . .
Adams Street, 1870s. The church at upper left is the M.P. Temple, and the large building near the top is the public school. From the lower corner upwards, the picture captures the Edd McCray store and his residence, the Eyester home, and the Burns home. (B. P. Palmer Collection)
The Decision is Ours, We Captain Our Soul. —Maple Leaves, 1968
1863 The history of Fairmont High School traces back to
school, by virtue of his position, serves as the superintendent of
December 10, when the state legislature passes a bill approving
public schools. Thus begins Fairmont High School.
the formation of high schools in West Virginia. Charles E. Ambler, the foremost expert on the state’s educational
1867 A lot, purchased from Judge E. B. Hall for $1,500 on
history, identifies the first of these high schools in West
the northwest corner of Adams and Quincy Streets, allows
Virginia as Fairmont, Parkersburg, and Charleston, which
the construction of the normal school. The students and
began instruction around 1867. Ryland S. White of Fairmont
community members attend the installation of the cornerstone
accepts an appointment to serve as the state’s first high school
on August 15, and the ceremonies include a speech by Senator
superintendent.
Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, a powerful orator and vocal leader of the anti-slavery forces in Massachusetts.
1864 The first public, free school in Fairmont opens. The city of Fairmont employs three teachers.
The Second Ward School Building, a brick structure containing a basement and two stories, measures sixty-eight by
1866 The board of education purchases the brick building at
forty feet and accommodates 150 students on Quincy Street
the corner of Adams and Madison Streets for a school.
approximately sixty feet from the corner of Adams Street. The basement holds two rooms for the primary department, the
The postcard of the Second Ward School on Adams and Quincy Streets pictures the first Fairmont High School Building. (Postcard courtesy of B. P. Palmer) VOICES OF FAIRMONT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
1867 The legislature locates one of the state normal schools in
first floor two larger rooms, and on the second floor one very
Fairmont; the pupils of the district provide a model training school
large room and two recitation rooms. An act of the legislature
for the benefit of the normal students. The principal of the normal
of February 23, 1869, provides that some or all of the public
Second Ward School, 1863–1926
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This 1896 view of Adams Street looks towards the present courthouse.
In March 1893, the normal school moves to its new location on Fairmont Avenue, now the site of the deserted post office building, leaving the Second Ward Building entirely to the high school. (B. P. Palmer Collection)
1890 Jointly owned and occupied by the normal school and the public schools of the Fairmont District, administrators observe an apparent realization that one or the other of the two would have to vacate and erect new quarters. The two entities decide school children would be taught under the direction of the
1876 Professor Thomas Condit Miller, for whom Miller Junior
to sell the state’s interest in the building to the Fairmont School
normal school in order to serve as a model school, and the
High is named, becomes the first principal of the graded public
District and erect a new building for the normal school. The
district can share the normal building under an agreement
school system in Fairmont, indeed one of the first three in the
voters of the Fairmont Independent District overwhelmingly
between the board of education and the regents. Workmen
state. The genesis of education in Marion County, Fairmont
approve that bond issue to make the purchase possible.
complete the building, and classes begin in April 1869;
High School, is under the leadership of Mr. Miller who not
approximately one hundred children attend. The demand for
only serves as principal of the school from 1877 to 1891 but
1892 On December 15, West Fairmont, with an area of 201
more space brought about by the addition of the public school
also superintendent of all schools in the Fairmont District and
acres, incorporates.
instigates the planning for a new wing larger than the original
state superintendent of schools from 1901 to 1909. Under his
building, which begins during the summer of 1872. Workmen
supervision, the foundations of the present system of education
1892 Named the seventh principal, J Walter Barnes secures
complete the three-story brick structure, measuring forty-eight
develops. One teacher enrolls forty-five students at Fairmont
funding from the legislature to establish a free-standing normal
by eighty feet, which is larger than the original building, in
High School.
school on a two-acre block in Fairmont’s south side. Wheeling
June of 1873.
architect O. S. Philpott designs the building on land purchased 1877 The first class graduating from the Second Ward Building
from the Fairmont Development Corporation. Authorities
1875 The public schools remain separate from the normal
honors four members: Mary Black, William Pierpont, Kathryn
exhume the remains from the Native American burial mound
school. Professor J. W. May serves as the principal of the public
Everett, and Samuel Pierpont.
on the front lawn and plant a tree in remembrance. Authorities
schools.
name the Fairmont State University yearbook The Mound in 1880 Authorities establish a graduating system. Between 1881
honor of the historic artifact. The local institution for higher
1876 On April 2, a fire destroys dilapidated wooden structures
and 1907, 227 matriculate. By the late 1800s, most cities
education starts as the normal downtown, then moves to
in Fairmont. The population of over nine hundred rebuilds and
and towns have high schools, although not all of them use a
Fairmont Avenue. The name changes to Fairmont Teacher’s
increases to over five thousand by 1900.
standardized curriculum. The growing enrollment of the normal
College at the new location on Locust Avenue, then to Fairmont
school during the 1880s eventually strains the physical facilities.
State College, and now Fairmont State University.
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Hartley’s and Jones Department Store later become anchor businesses in Fairmont. (B. P. Palmer Collection)
VOICES OF FAIRMONT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Goldens Corner entices shoppers to the other end of town. (B. P. Palmer Collection)
Second Ward School, 1863–1926
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1905 Fairmont High School, known as “The Point,” is built
John Forrest “Fuzzy” Knight (1919)
at Fifth Street and Benoni Avenue for $80,000. Salaries of the
composed the “WVU Fight Song” while attending
faculty range from $1,350 per year for the principal to $585 to $810 for the teachers. Enrollment numbers 178. 1926 On August 1, the companies of the West Virginian and The Times merge. The Times West Virginian assumes its present
West Virginia University where he also wrote the melody for a WVU song entitled, “To Thee Our Alma Mater.” He appeared in almost two hundred movies, primarily westerns.
name on September 13, 1931. The Fairmont Newspaper Publishing Company moves to new offices constructed at the corner of Ogden and Quincy Streets in 1954. R. C. Eddie contractors of Morgantown dismantle the building in 1956. An apartment building now occupies the site.
The Times West Virginian assumes its present name on September 13, 1931. The sign on left advertises the West Virginian and on the right the Times. FHS, the normal school, and the newspapers occupy the building at various times.
Dr. Chesney Ramage (center) appears with his class of 1900. (Photo from the collection of Raymond Alvarez, given to him by Rae Carroll Ramage, widow of Dr. Chesney M. Ramage)
1898 The year of the Spanish War graduates five girls and two
In 1900, when Jennie Fleming’s class had nine members, the board of education envisions a need for a new school.
boys who call themselves the “Patriotic Seven.” 1899 Twelve girls and four boys graduate. More than twenty thousand public high schools exist in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century. 1900 The graduating class, composed of nine girls and one boy and known as the “Jennie Fleming Class,” heralds an increased
1902 The “Mercer Class” claims Mildred Pickett, the
enrollment requiring a fourth teacher. The lone boy eventually
Mannington banker Phil Pitzer, and internationally renowned
becomes a doctor. Dr. Chesney M. Ramage provides years of
sculptor Fred Torrey.
service to the community.
Fred Martin Torrey (1902) enrolled in 1909 at the Art Institute of Chicago. Torrey’s 1933 statue, Lincoln Walks at Midnight, so named after Vachel Lindsay’s poem, was displayed as a twenty-nine-inch bronze at the 1939 World’s Fair. In 1974 a nine-and-one-half foot bronze casting of the statue, executed by Charleston artist Bernard Wiepper, was erected near the West Virginia State Capitol.
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VOICES OF FAIRMONT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
Second Ward School, 1863–1926
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