West Virginia Colored Children's Home

United States historic place


West Virginia Colored Children's Home
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

West Virginia Colored Children's Home, March 2009
38°24′34″N 82°22′25″W / 38.40944°N 82.37361°W / 38.40944; -82.37361
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1923
Architectural style	Classical Revival
NRHP reference No.	97001413 ^[1]
Added to NRHP	November 13, 1997

West Virginia Colored Children's Home, was a historic school, orphanage, and sanatorium building located near Huntington, Cabell County, West Virginia. It was the state's first social institution exclusively serving the needs of African American residents. The main structure, built in 1922–1923, was a three-story red brick building in the Classical Revival style. That building, located at 3353 U.S. Route 60, Huntington, West Virginia, was the last of a series of buildings that were constructed on the site. It is also known as the West Virginia Colored Orphans Home, Colored Orphan Home and Industrial School, the West Virginia Home for Aged and Infirm Colored Men and Women, and University Heights Apartments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.^[1]

History

The original institution was founded in 1899 by the Rev. Charles E. McGhee as the West Virginia Normal and Industrial School for Colored Children in Bluefield, West Virginia.^[2] McGhee moved the institution to Huntington, West Virginia in 1903. In 1911, the private institution, which functioned as an orphanage and school, came under state control and support. It was then renamed the West Virginia Colored Orphans Home.^[3] In 1931, the institution's name was changed to the West Virginia Colored Children's Home.^[4] By 1951, residents of the Children's Home were no longer educated on site, but were bused to segregated public schools.^[3]

The West Virginia Colored Children's Home was closed in 1956 and the building was used as a rest home. The property transferred to Marshall University in 1961 and later it was converted to apartments.^[5] The building was demolished on May 5, 2011. The location is now an empty field.^[6]

Howard H. Railey served as its superintendent. He was the first African American to serve in West Virginia’s legislature.^[7]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Hartshorn, W. N.; Penniman, George W., eds. (1910). An Era of Progress and Promise: 1863–1910. Boston, MA: Priscilla Pub. Co. p. 359. OCLC 5343815.
^ ^a ^b Shepherd, Sarah H. (2022). "West Virginia Colored Orphans Home (1899-1956)". Social Welfare History Project. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
^ "West Virginia Colored Orphans Home. History". Cabell County Schools. Retrieved December 14, 2022.
^ Lisa Adkins (July 1997). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: West Virginia Colored Children's Home" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
^ Herald-Dispatch.com, Huntington, WV, May 6, 2011
^ Spurlock, Trent and Whetsell, Rob. "Documentation of West Virginia Colored Orphans' Home, Cabell County, West Virginia." Prepared for Cabell County Board of Education. Cultural Resource Analysts, Inc.