Early West Virginia school architecture

While I was doing a bit of research, I came across an interesting publication from 1907, The History of Education in West Virginia. Given the state of education in our state, and the many challenges both teachers and students face each day, I thought it was very interesting to see how education had progressed in the first 43 years of statehood.

Even though that may be a nice subject for a post at a later date, something else happened to catch my eye as I read through this very in depth report...the beautiful schools that were found throughout the state in 1906. There were so many new and beautiful school buildings at the time! Such a stark contrast on many of the schools we see being built today, which look more like prisons than a center for learning. 

So, I thought I would share some of the pictures contained in the report so you can see some of the stunning architecture for yourselves.  And speaking as one who is into historic preservation, I am saddened to know that many of these buildings are no longer here so we can admire them. But that too is a story for another day! 

By the way, if you would like to take a look at the report and/or see some more of the schools, it is available online at one of my favorite websites for research, archive.org. The direct link is WV 1907.