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The Riverside School Project


The only African-American High school in Randolph County.



This school was built in 1906 to serve the African American community.
The Old Riverside School
Along the banks of the Tygart Valley River in Elkins, West Virginia,
A school was born

According to a paper written by William H. Rice on the Education of Blacks in Randolph County 1920, he states before the Civil war the concept of providing public schools for blacks was unknown to Western Virginia. Any education that they received came from non-government sources. Skills would have been acquired based on duties assigned to them by the slaveholder. The men in many cases became experienced teamsters, blacksmiths, cooks, barbers, carpenters, bricklayers, painters, and plasterers while women learned domestic skills such as house cleaning, the washing of clothing, dressmaking and nursing. The churches usually made early initiatives in education for all races in the United States. In 1894 education began to improve when the African Methodist Episcopal Church sent Rev. E.R.Bazier to Randolph County. According to a brief history recorded in Hu Maxwell's History of Randolph County, Rev. Brazier, who was sent to Beverly in 1894 by A.M.E. Bishop Benjamin William Arnett, found the Blacks to be poor and uneducated and in 1894 and 1895 he organized an A.M.E. church at Beverly and a second one at Cassidy Fork. He also opened a school for blacks at each of those locations. Maxwell also mentions A.M.E. Minister John A. Garnett of Elkins. Rev. Garnett was born in Pocahontas County in 1869; here he appears to be the first person in Elkins to effectively organize support for a black church and an educational program. As time progressed, so did the black community and on July 12, 1905 the Board of Education of the Independent School District of Elkins bought lots 704- 705 on River Street from Harry R and Sue S. Warfield of Monongalia County. Prior to this purchase these students attended school in various buildings such as the Knights of Pitians Lodge hall, Masonic Hall, Scott Building, Harness shop, Virginia Methodist Episcopal Church, Shiloh Baptist Church, and other available facilities. At these locations a minister or some other literate person dedicated themselves to teaching children to read, write and think. Riverside school was built somewhere between 1905 and 1911 originally designed for eight grades; in 1925 a second story was built to expand to a school of ten grades. According to the legacy of Riverside because many of the families were not satisfied with the limited training offered at Riverside, they sent their children to elsewhere for advanced education. W.Va Collegiate Institute was made available, tuition free, for high school students a large portion of Riverside students took advantage of this opportunity. But, in 1928 after considerable agitation from the black community, higher grade levels were achieved, extra curricular activities added, manual training, and many new courses were added to the curriculum, a student council and a lion staff were organized, a library and a hot lunch program came into effect when Riverside became a four year high school. While Riverside had a very humble beginning, with C.V. Harris as a teacher and the first principal of the Riverside Elementary School, it progressed through the years, and after many frustrating and fruitful experiences, Riverside was proclaimed a legacy of Black Academic Excellence. Students from neighboring counties chose to enter Riverside to complete their education. Today only a few graduates of the Riverside School reside in Elkins. Yet, there is a movement afoot to save and preserve the old school as an African-American Archives, Museum, and Heritage center. The Riverside School building is in desperate need of stabilization and renovation, and this an opportunity to secure an adaptable reuse in the future, for the African-American past, that has played a vital role in the development of the Allegheny Highlands region.

◊  click here to find more written information about the school

◊  click here to see photos of the Riverside School Pediment Project

◊  click here to view photos of the school in it's present condition



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