This alumni page is dedicated to those
who have graduated from Elkins High School. Elkins High has a long history.
The first school which housed Elkins High School students was established by
accommodating the older students with the younger students. This building
according to historian Donald Rice had been built in 1894 at the corner of
Second Street and Henry Avenue where the old Central School still stands and is
now occupied by apartment dwellers. The first
commencement of Elkins High School occurred in May 1899. The following information taken from
Donald Rice's book "The Elkins Centennial Album 1890-1990", notes that
graduation from the school was granted upon completion of two years of work. The
1899 graduating class consisted of Marquerite Campbell ,
Margaret Elizabeth Dann , and Myrtle Neil Talbott . There
were perhaps fifteen or twenty students in what was then termed the high
school. The curriculum consisted of the three R's supplemented
by a bit of history and advanced mathematics.
Time
passed. In 1909, while the new Central Building was being built,
classes were moved to the new First Ward School Building, which is still
standing today. The First Ward School housed both the grade school
and the high school students. By 1910, the First
Ward School was housing the high school which had its commencement in 1909.
By 1914, a new Central Building had been
completed to replace the old 1894 ten-room structure and the First Ward
School as high school facilities. The building had since become inadequate
for the increasing number of students at the high school level.
The population of the town continued to
increase, and in 1914 the Central School was erected. The increase in the
size of the graduating classes after 1914 indicates the rapid growth of the high
school. In that year there were twenty-one graduates; in 1916,
thirty-seven; in 1921, seventy-eight; and in 1926, one hundred fifteen. By
this time the housing of these students had become a serious problem, and plans
were begun to erect a new high school building.
By 1910, the high school had an
enrollment of eight-three and ten students graduated. In 1914, twenty-one
students graduated and thirty-seven graduated in 1916. From 1916 to 1925
high school classes were held in the Central School. This building
continued as the high school until 1925-26, when the high school students
moved at mid-year to the site located in south Elkins.
In 1926, 115 students graduated from
Elkins High School. In 1929-30, the school graduated ninety-two and an
enrollment of 673 in 1930-31, the graduating class was 107 students.
Many classes have since graduated from
Elkins High School. In 1993 the new Elkins High School was built at a cost
of 12.7 million dollars. It opened its doors under the new name Forest
Hills High School. In 1995, the name was changed back to Elkins High
School. The new high school is located on Kennedy Drive, south of Elkins on
US Route 219-250.
Many thanks to Donald Rice for the above information and the past Elkins High
School pictures.
© Elkins High School
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