The City's First School

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city of Huntington’s first school was a four-room brick building
 built at 720 4th Ave. in 1872, one year after the city’s birth.

James E. Casto | Courtesy drawing

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The city HUNTINGTON — The city of Huntington’s first school was a four-room,
brick building built at 720 4th Ave. in 1872, one year after the city’s birth.
 Four more rooms were added to the building in 1882,
but ultimately the growing student body prompted
 construction of a new, larger school.

The first school building was named for the Buffington family,
 members of which played a prominent role in the region’s
 early history. When a new school was built on the corner
of 5th Avenue and 6th Street, it also was named for
 the Buffingtons. (The Board of Education then
 gave the original 4th Avenue building to
the city, which used it to house
 Huntington’s first hospital.)

City Council originally approved the construction of two new
 schools, one in the west end of the city and another in
 the east end. The west end school was immediately
 built on 4th Avenue, but problems securing a
suitable site delayed construction of
 the proposed east end school

In August 1873, council secured a site on the corner of
3rd Avenue and 22nd Street and approved a contract
 with A.B. Palmer to erect a one-story school
 building at a cost of $1,700.

In 1888, a new school building was erected on the southeast corner
of 5th Avenue and 12th Street. The building contained 10 rooms,
 an office and a finished basement. As town recorder, retired
Union Gen. John Hunt Oley was in charge of the city’s
schools. Because Oley had recently died, the new
school building was named for him. It
remained in use until 1977, when
 it was closed and later
demolished.

Other early Huntington schools include Holderby (built in 1891),
 Douglass (1893), Cabell (1896), Simms (1899), Jefferson
(1911), Lincoln and Miller (1912), Johnson (1915),
Gallaher, Guyandotte and the original
 Huntington High on 8th
Street (1916).

-----------------------------------------------------------

Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on July 2, 2024.

-----------------------------------------------------------

[ Back ]