Brave New Town
Revisiting Arthurdale, W.Va., a Depression-era
experiment
BY MICHAEL BYERS
Of the six original buildings that constituted
the old public school in Arthurdale, W.Va., four are
still standing. Set back along a quiet road off Highway
92, 17 miles southeast of Morgantown near the northern
edge of the state, the long white clapboard structures
are boarded up against vandals. The copper gutters
and downspouts have been stolen, and broken glass
glitters in the high, unmown grass of late May. From
the open doorway of the low-slung, sprawling high
school comes the unmistakable smell of mold.
"Just imagine," says Dave Hall, propping
the door open with a shovel, "Eleanor Roosevelt
coming down here."
Inside, the smell grows stronger. Hall reaches around
in the dark and flips on a few lights. In use until
six years ago, the high school's old classrooms have
retained a worn, occupied look. The floors are warped
and scratched, and most of the furniture has been
taken away, but a few classrooms are still crammed
with rows of student desks, which manage to look uncomfortable
even with no one in them. Antiquated computer terminals,
lined up on the floor, await destruction. Gray lockers
march in regiments down the corridor.
"Take a look down here," says Hall, a board member
of Arthurdale Heritage, the town's nonprofit preservation
group, which is racing to save the school buildings
from further deterioration. At the end of the corridor,
a large chemistry lab stands empty but for a pair
of laboratory tables, one of which sits askew in the
middle of the room, its old gas nibs still intact.
The other has nearly been swallowed up by a huge hole
in the floor.
"I wouldn't get too close over there," he advises.
For more of this article, look for the March/April
2006 issue on newsstands or e-mail
us to purchase a copy.
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