Alumni remember the old CCHS
By Bob Weaver (2002)
Several thousand students walked between the twin towers of Calhoun
County High School, before it was closed in 1998 - a history spanning 78
years.
Voices and ghosts came forth when we walked through its dark and
musty corridors last fall, remembering our times there, both good and
bad.
Plaster had fallen from the ceilings, windows had cracked, and vines had
grown through the walls. It was a place of the past, empty but for
memories.
Thousands passed through these portals between the
towers
It was easy to recall my 80 classmates from 1958 and the faces of the teachers and principals, their idiosyncrasies and their
contributions.
My most treasured memory was the respect they gave me, and the
opportunities to drift from the curriculum and embark on projects and
adventures which could not be tolerated today.
Calhoun High was the center of the universe for most Calhoun kids before
television came to the county in the 1950's and the ownership of cars to
drive to more exciting activities. Today, there are dozens of handy
diversions.
It was a time of connection between students, teachers and the structure
itself.
While many of the public education's problems existed then, it was a
flourishing institution that promoted education and personal growth.
In 1915 the voters passed a levy by a
two-to-one margin to build Calhoun County High School. The project, because of World War I, ground was not broken until
1920.
The first seventy students entered the building in 1923, with the first
graduating class in 1925, nineteen students strong.
Calhoun County had one of the first rural bus transportation systems,
causing high school enrollment to explode. By the late 1930's over 600
students attended the institution, causing overcrowding.
Enrollment dropped during World War II and fire gutted the building on
February 21, 1942, this after a controversy erupted over students refusing to say
the Pledge of Allegiance. It re-opened about one year later.
A period of post-war growth continued in the aging structure, which has now
been replaced by a splendid multi-million dollar facility at Mount Zion.
Old graduates of the stone-cut building return every year to an alumni reunion held at the new school, recalling school days and life changing events, times most
precious to their lives. It was the last of the farming era, with extended
families living nearby.
With the average American moving and changing jobs about every five years,
the roots of origin and childhood are less connected.
Graduates of more recent years rarely attend the alumni reunion.
It is unlikely they will cling to the ghostly images and memories that draw
the old-timers back to their "old home."
Here is our ghostly tour of the old building we took in 2002.
After fire gutted the building, sections remained like Roman ruins
Old water house and utility building
Building gutted by fire in 1942, old chimney reaches to the sky
Building facing Route 16
The football field changed little over the years
Grantsville across the Little Kanawha River
Gabled arch over rear entrance
Cartoon art on Driver's Ed building
New additions to stone structure, rear view
Upstairs classroom has oil-soaked floors
The sometimes controversial Calhoun Red Devil
Plaster falls from the ceiling where students took home economics
The old gym and auditorium, hundreds of basketball
games, "The Follies," plays, plus graduation ceremonies
Vines grow through the cafeteria walls - "the lunch room"
Outside view of gym and vo-tech buildings
... and a message posted by the last students using the building
Note: The building is now being resurrected by the 1982 Foundation.
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