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SCHOOLS

In present day Harts Creek ,we have one single A high school with approximately 300 students and two elementary schools : Atenville and Ferrellsburg ;however, the WV State Board of Education decided to close Harts as a high school and Ferrellsburg Elementary after this year (2006). Harts was officially built in 1954. In the beginning ,before the evolution of roads and transportation, the countryside was "peppered" with one room school houses , and many of these buildings  also provided a place for church services. We feel the need to feature some of these buildings and history in the following segments of our project 2000-2006. The state Board of Education  closed all four Lincoln Co. high schools at the end of the 2006 school year.

Walter Midkiff  gave the following dates of construction for Lincoln County's schools in a report he compiled in  the late 1940s: Atenville (unknown),Ferrellsburg (1932) , Gartin School (1943), Short Bend School ( 1945), Guyan Valley High School (1927), Duval High School (1914). Some  dates given were for  the construction of the schools as they existed at  the time of Midkiff's report. Some of these schools had been around in name much earlier.

Based on information  from HARDESTY'S  HISTORY OF LINCOLN COUNTY (c. 1884) and the 1880  census , we can  present the following information on  Harts Creek Schools for the mid-1800s: Harts Creek (total population 1,116) : There were 10 school houses and 334 students,giving an average of 33.4 per school.

COLE BRANCH SCHOOL

PINEY SCHOOL HOUSE

Coal Branch School in 1955 during a flood

Link to more old school pictures

WORKMAN FORK SCHOOL