Marshall University - Chief Justice Yearbook (Huntington, WV)

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of Morgantown, in 1880; Mr. Hodges resigned in 1890, to accept the chair of Physics, in the State University, and was succeeded l»y L. J. Corbly, of Alina, West Virginia, who was called from his graduate work in the University of Berlin, Germany. The school buildings are located in the center of the school grounds, on an elevation of about 20 feet above the surrounding streets, overlooking the entire grounds, a wide area of the city, the Ohio hills on the north, and the West Virginia bills on the south. With the addition of the new building our school edifice now consists of a series of five buildings, solidly connected, a continuous ball way extending from one end to the other. The buildings have their main frontage on Third Avenue and Sixteenth Street. The Third Avenue or north frontage is about 400 Teel in length, and faces the Ohio River, two blocks distant with the fine range of bills which fringe the bank on the Ohio side. The Sixteenth Street or West frontage is 140 feet in length, facing the main part of the city. The secondary frontages are tin College Avenue or the south front, 400 feet and the Seventeenth Street or east front, 55 feet. The two eastern sections of the buildings, composed of three wings 20x55 feet, 10x70 feet and 10x75 feet compose the ladies dormitory sections, known as College Hall. Between these and the other sections there is a heavy brick wall with no openings in it above the first floor. The three western sections are given up exclusively to school work. These are respectfully, beginning with the most eastern, 70x78, 55x84, and 101x140 feet. All have been built since 1807. one excepted, and that one was thoroughly overhauled inside and out in 1800, thus making the entire series new and up-to-date, in their appointments. The school grounds located between Third Avenue on the north and College Avenue on the South and between Six teenth Street on the west and Seventeenth Street on the east, two city blocks in length and one and one-half in width, con tain even sixteen acres of land, for which nature has done as much, perhaps, as for any school grounds of their size 13

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of the Legislature from Cabell County, proposed that if the county would pay off the indebtedness of the premises and transfer the property to the State, he would see that the buildings and grounds were enlarged and improved and that a normal school should be established thereon. This proposition was accepted by the County and the State by statute made it “The State Normal School” and provided that it should continue to be called “Marshall College” and that it should be governed by a Board of Regents. 1'nder State control the regents secured an appropriation of about thirty thousand dollars, which was expended in securing about twelve acres of land additional, in completing the buildings erected by the Southern Methodists, making the first building three stories high, and putting a very extensive three story wing on the west end. After the City of Huntington was laid out, 1871, the State, by exchanging land with the Central Land Company, made tin College grounds conform to the streets and avenues of the city. In 18G( the regents engaged the services of l rof. R. S. Thompson, of Penn., as principal. Other sections of the state immediately wanted Normal Schools, claiming that Marshall College was not centrally located, etc. To accomodate these demands, State Normal Schools, branches of Marshall College, were established at Fairmont, West Liberty, Shcpherdstown, (ilenville and Concord. Prof. Thompson served until 1S71 when he was succeeded by Prof. Powell, of Ashland, Kentucky, who remained but one year. lie was succeeded by Prof. Morrow, of Hancock County, West Virginia. It was at the close of Prof. Morrow’s first year of service that Prof. -J. Beauchamp Clark, now the distinguished representative in Congress from Missouri, was chosen as first assistant. But the field of polities had a greater charm for Mr. Clark than the school room, hence he resigned his place at the close of his first year.' Principal Morrow was succeeded by A. B. Chesterman, of Richmond, Virginia, Prof. Chesterman was succeeded by Prof. Thaxton, in 1881; Prof. Thaxton by Prof. W. J. Kenney, of Point Pleasant, in 1884; Prof. Kenney by Thos. E. Hodges, 12

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in the United States, toward adapting them for the purpose for which they have been appropriated. The elevated center, seemingly intended to receive some royal palace, extends from within 200 feet of the west end, where the summit of the somewhat abrupt but extremely graceful incline from the Sixteenth Street level is crowned with large wide spreading beech and some smaller trees ten to twelve inches in diameter, eastward 000 feet where it terminates in a deep terrace thirty feet high, which terrace serves as the west bank of a deep ravine. The ravine or, brooklet, enters the ground on the south-east corner and winds its way in deep, graceful curves north-westward through the grounds lined throughout its course with noble trees varying in diameter from ten to thirty inches. It is the beautiful curving of the deep banks of this brooklet, fringed with stately trees and covered with verdure, especially at its north western portion, that Dr. Goss, of Cincinnati, thought the most beautiful spot he had ever seen on a College campus. This brooklet with an arm extending eastward and covered with over fifty trees, forms the eastern boundary of the elevated center of the campus referred to above. Beyond the ravine and about twenty feet lower than the elongated elevation of the center, to the eastward is the young men’s athletic grounds, about four acres and almost entirely level. The northern or Third Ave. frontage descends by a deep, carefully cultivated terrace some twenty feet from the high central portion, and from the foot of the terrace to Third Avenue it is nearly level. On this portion are the main entrance, (a brick walk, twelve feet wide), fifteen of the finest old trees, the croquet grounds and one of the tennis courts. To the south of the rise extending east and west through the center, the grounds slope gently to College Avenue, this section being a little wider than the northern frontage. The drive-way enters from College Avenue, about the middle from east to west, comes at right angles to the buildings, curves gracefully around the large sycamore at the immediate south of College ITall and retraces itself. The eastern portion of the south side is given up to the girls’ basket ball grounds. u