Click photo to enlarge.
The late Seymour Whipp wrote a history (circa 1947) of Page School. In addition, he prepared a list of all teachers at the school as well as identifying the students, and their teacher, shown in a photo taken at the school in 1892. Mr. Whipp, a farmer who resided near Headsville, WV, studied the folklore and history of the area. Contributed by Lyle Iman.
The Old Page Schoolhouse
By Seymour Whipp
The Old Page Schoolhouse was built on the Santford Whipp land ¾ mile from Creek Pike in Page Hollow above the brick house (once) owned by Hobart Hesse, 3 miles south of Burlington. (Barger Farm)
(Note: The site of the school is in area of the flood control dam above Larenim Park.)
It was built 1885 to replace the old Lost School House. W.A. Liller of Keyser, WV, was the contractor for both the Page and Eureka schoolhouses. The Eureka schoolhouse is 3 miles from Headsville, on the Keyser Road (between Headsville and Fountain). Both schools were built in 1885.
(Note: The building that was once the Eureka school still exists. The building has been converted into a house located on Headsville-Fountain Road; the house is currently occupied.)
The Page School building was abandoned 1933 at the beginning of the consolidation school at Burlington. It was sold by the Board of Education.
At present, it is used as a restaurant 1 mile west of Burlington, on route 50 known as the Van Myra Inn.
(Note: The Van Myra Restaurant was destroyed by fire December 1958.)
Minnie Vogell (Taylor) of Wheeling, WV was the first teacher when the school opened in 1885. Now Mrs. Charles Taylor of Ridgeville, WV. Bayard and Anna Taylor’s mother who is perhaps the oldest living schoolteacher in Mineral County.
Teachers at Page School:
Minnie Vogell (first teacher)
Oll. Metcalfe
Harvey Strickler
G. S. Arnold
Russell Idleman
Joe Allamong
J. J. Idleman
Myrtle Blackburn
Susan Van Meter
Syrena Mae Arnold
Lucy Bailey
Wade Lease
Lucy Hollenbach
R. W. Thrush
Grace Stirdings
Katharyn Henley
Cora Whipp
Bertha Whipp
Finley Orndorf (last teacher, 1932)
Click photo to enlarge.
Photo taken by W. B. Decker, traveling ‘artist’, father of Dick Decker (Decker’s Garage), 6 miles east of Keyser on route 46.
Front Row, left to right
Emmer Whipp (Powell)
Ella Biser (Stagg)
Laura Blackburn
Nora Hull
Fanny Malcolm
May Whipp (Webb)
Bertha Biser
Bertha Whipp (Bailey)
Myrtle Hull (Strother)
Cora Whipp (Cliendinst)
Back Row, left to right (married name)
Mary Whipp (Thrush)
Salima Whipp (Umstott)
Lucy Biser (Shoemaker)
Susie Leatherman (Tasker)
Ethel Snyder (Coogen)
Russell Idleman (teacher)
George Leatherman
Albert Blackburn
Charles Whipp
Seymour Whipp