Kelly View School

Kelly View School. . The Kelly View School is a small, one-room frame schoolhouse which stands as an important vestige of the early educational and social history of the Southern Appalachian coalfields, rural Wise County, and the Kelly View area. Kelly View was a small community of families between the towns of Appalachia and Norton. It is believed that the school was built in 1802. There are photographs labeled 1923-1924 with the schoolhouse looking much like it does today. The interior walls and ceiling are treated with rough-sawn flush boards. Near the center of the room is the original pot-bellied wood stove that provided heat in the winter. Teachers taught grades 1-5 or 1-6 with as many as 36 students appearing in a 1940's era picture. , The school, which is identified in the National Register of Historic Places, is now the only surviving pre-World War I non-domestic structure in the community. According to U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, the school is eligible for the National Register in the area of Education because it is a rare surviving example of a one-room schoolhouse in the region, and in the area of Social History because of its central role to the Kelly View community during the late 19th century and throughout part of the twentieth century. , Rural schoolhouses such as Kelly View School fulfilled important roles in the education and civic life of rural communities in Virginia for generations of students who attended and for their families whose social community life was centered there. Accounts of student and community activities at Kelly View School were solid testimony for its educational and social significance. Since the late nineteenth century, the school grounds were used for social functions and community activities. The Kelly View School was taken out of service as an educational facility in either 1959 or 1960. Afterwards, it served the community as a church. , The school was moved from the Kelly View community to the grounds of the Appalachia Elementary School (AES) on the north side of US Hwy 23/Hwy 58 Alternate, which follows the Powell River through the area. Before the school was moved a short distance to make room for the Appalachia Elementary School, which was built in 1976, it sat on top of a small hill in the same vicinity. During its time at AES, a former student, Danny Boggs, and his family dedicated their time and talent to restoring the one-room building. , The school was moved to its current location in November 2018. The Town of Appalachia desired the school to be located across from the trailhead to the beautiful Powell River Trail. Volunteers built the block concrete foundation and added the ramp porch for easy accessibility. A grand opening was held on November 16, 2019 in celebration of the move to this location. Several former students attended and shared memories of their years at Kelly View. , You are invited to come inside to view and read about the history of Kelly View School. It includes student memories of beloved teachers and what the education of books and of life was like from this one-room school. , Some information obtained from U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, OMB No. 1024-4018