Shady Hill Campus
Mineral Wells, West Virginia
This is the original school building as it was built in 1932. It had two large class rooms divided by a wall down the middle of the building from the front to the rear. The classroom on the right had a rope that came down from the school bell. The foyer of the building provided separate doors to each classroom as well as on the left a stairway down to the basement. On the right was a long narrow room which was used as a supply room and connected to the principal's office. By the time that I went to Shady Hill in 1945 it was also used by the school patrol to sell candy products to raise money for the patrol to go to Washington, DC in May. The principal's office was in a room on the right side of the front of the building. That was a place that all students attempted to avoid. I wasn't too successful in doing this. On the left font side of the building was a room used for the library. I don't know how the two classrooms were used when the school was first built but when I attended school there from 1945-1953 the classroom on the left was used for the sixth grade and the classroom on the right was used for the 7th and 8th grades until 1952 when the new Ben Franklin Jr. High School in South Parkersburg was opened and the eight grade students were transferred to Franklin.
Shady Hill School was state of the art when it was built in 1932. It served the Mineral Wells community well until 1955 when it had to give way to a larger facility. 
In 1941 there arose a need for more
classrooms and two additional buildings were added to the campus. This building on the left housed
two classrooms. The first one that can be seen in this picture was for the fifth grade and was Mrs. Michael's home room.
The other classroom in this building further back was for the third grade and was Mrs. Roberts home room. Between these two
buildings was a sidewalk leading to the buildings in the rear. There was also a stairwell out of the basement of the main
building attatched to the sidewalk. The basement was a multipurpose room that was used for a cafeteria as well as an
auditorium and had a stage and a kitchen in it.
This picture was taken sometime after the school facilities were shut down.
Notice the stove pipes sticking out of the roofs of these buildings. This building complex was located just behind the 3rd and 5th
grade building. It originally contain just two classrooms and later on the third was added which is the nearest
room on the left and was used for the forth grade and was Mr. Miller's home room. Behind it was the first grade classroom taught by Miss. Gertrude Dye. The classroom on the right was
for the second grade which was taught by Miss. Melrose (Stephans), Miss. Shahan and
beginning in 1950, Miss. Pauline Cline. On the very right center of the picture you can see the toilets. On the sidewalk that led to these
buildings was a hand operated well pump where we got our drinking water.
This is the building to the left of the main building that housed the Fifth Grade and the Third Grade.
The door in this picture is for the Third Grade classroom and the classroom to the left of it
was the Fifth Grade classroom.
The well was just to the left of this picture.
