The first school in Hampshire Co., VA (WV) was located near Pearsall's Fort (Romney) in 1753, serving as a church as well as school (Re: G. Washington papers.) Washington describes the building as constructed of rough logs chinked with clay, a puncheon floor with hewn side up, the doors of clapboards and its one window was of paper greased with lard. An 8 foot fireplace served for heat and supplementary light. Author's note: This type of structure was typical of those to follow during the next hundred years. Furniture of early schools consisted of seats/benches made of split logs hewn smooth on the surface, supported by smaller logs thrust into auger holes on the under side for legs (no backs.) Writing was done with quill pens on a slab supported by pins driven into the wall to serve as a desk. "The first teachers were hired by having a paper passed around the community and each parent indicated how many children he would send and whether the teacher could expect remuneration, produce or board." "Schooling depended on subscription until 1810 when the general assembly of Virginia created what was known as the Literary Fund to be apportioned among the counties for the education of poor children...the first step toward free schools as we know them today." In 1818 an act was passed for the appointment of county school commissioners. In 1845 an act was passed authorizing the county court to redistrict the counties and appoint a commissioner of each school district. In 1846 an act was passed giving local people the right to build and operate a district school if two-thirds of them voted for such. "There is no evidence that any great advantage was ever made of either of these (1845,1846) acts in Hampshire County." "A very old schoolhouse with dirt floor and a chimney built of mud and sticks was standing as early as 1845 three miles from Forks of Capon near North River. Schoolhouses were built on Sandy Ridge and at Forks of Capon about 1835. One was built near (the town of) Levels in 1840 (a relatively short distance south of the town of South Branch or French's Station.) At the close of of the War Between the States there were not more than eight or ten small, crude, and poorly furnished public school buildings in the county." At the first meeting of the West Virginia Legislature on 20 Dec 1863, an act established a public school system where voters of each township were to elect a county superintendent. The first board of education in the county was in Romney Twp 1864, other twp's soon following. "School terms were from two to four months. An act of 1872 provided for a board of education to be elected for each district and three trustees for each school." Superintendents were responsible for testing and granting certificates to teacher candidates, visiting each school at least three times during the term and securing as far as possible uniformity in textbooks throughout the county. "Teachers were granted five grades of certificates and were paid accordingly -- from ten dollars a month for lowest to thirty dollars for highest grade. Very much the same organization existed after sixty years when in 1933 the county-unit school system was created. However, higher standards had been set for teacher qualifications and salaries had been considerably improved (as)...Under the Public School Act of 1872 much progress was made in creating a general education program for all the children of the county." As to higher education, the first in Hampshire County was Romney Academy (1820), becoming Romney Classical Institute in 1846. The Potomac Seminary was organized in 1850 (where I wonder?.) "Both schools closed during the War Between the States...Potomac Seminary reopened after the war and was later named Potomac Academy which operated until 1916. Springfield Academy opened about 1854 but closed permanently at the beginning of the Civil War." Source: "Historic Hampshire, A Symposium of Hampshire County and Its People, Past and Present," edited by Selden W. Brannon, McClain Printing Company, Parsons, WV 1976. Neil McDonald