Charleston High School - Charlestonian Yearbook (Charleston, WV)

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PROGRESS OF HIGH SCHOOLS IN CHARLESTON 0 Since this year marks the passing of 300 years since the founding of the Boston Latin School, the first secondary school in America, we celebrate the development of secondary edu- cation in our own city. There were no high schools in Charleston until a short time before the Civil War. Then, in accordance with a three-year law for free education in Virginia, Mercer Academy was established at Charleston for Kanawha County. Cnly two hundred ninety- eight pupils were attending this in l833 from the entire county. Then came the Civil War and West Virginia became a state. A free school was organized in the basement of an old Methodist church building that stood on what now is the corner of Capitol and Virginia streets, with Herbert P. Gaines as the first teacher. ln time a frame building was set up on the site of the present Taft School on State Streetg this later was increased to a two-story structure, known as Union School, which since has been razed. This school was strongly opposed by the city council for several years. Shortly before l89U, Mr. George Laidley assisted in establishing a high school on the second floor of the old Union School, with Mrs. McClwiggin as principal over a very small student body and two teachers. ln the fall of 1890 the school was moved to the second floor of the old Mercer School that stood on the spot now occupied by Charleston High School.. At this location they had six rooms and added three more teach- ers to the faculty. Upon outgrowing this building they moved to another building on the site of the old Union School, and about l9UO they moved to what now is Mercer Graded School on Quarrier Street. This was the first building for the high school and was the first to be called Charleston High School. All the modern sciences were taught, with well-equipped laboratories, and manual arts were added to the list of subjects taught. With the growth and progress of Charleston came the growth of the student body and eventually the expansion of the school system until the fall of l9l8, when Charleston High School was moved to the building now occupied by lefferson lunior High School. After remaining there for about seven years, the present building was erected on the site of the old Mercer School in l925. Again the student body has grown until at the present day we have l,987 students requiring the undivided attention of a teaching staff of sixty-seven to aid in their guest for more schol- astic and athletic honors to add to the long list they now have. We look forward to the time when Charleston will have larger and greater high schools to advance the knowledge and talents of its younger folk.

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Eighteen ARCHES OF THE MAIN CORRIDOR