Ridgeley High School, built in 1934, was a middle and a high school in Mineral County, West Virginia

Mineral County, West Virginia

Mineral County is a county located in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is part of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 28,212. Its county seat is Keyser.-Ancient history:...

. The high school closed in 1976 because of consolidation in Mineral County schools. At one time the school contained kindergarten though 12th grade.

History

Ridgeley students received their high school education at Allegany High School

Allegany High School

Allegany High School is a public high school in Cumberland, Allegany County, Maryland. Allegany High School was built as Allegany County High School in 1887, hence it is often referred to as 'Alco'....

 in Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland, Maryland

Cumberland is a city in the far western, Appalachian portion of Maryland, United States. It is the county seat of Allegany County, and the primary city of the Cumberland, MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 20,859, and the metropolitan area had a...

 until 1934, when a high school program was established in the town. The first graduating class in 1935 had 13 students.

The school closed as a result of consolidation in 1976 and was succeeded by Frankfort High School

Frankfort High School (West Virginia)

Frankfort High School is a high school in Short Gap, West Virginia that houses over 600 students from Ridgeley, Short Gap, Ft. Ashby, Wiley Ford, and Carpendale...

.

Campus

Ridgeley High School sits on a plot of land in the center of the town by the levee which separates the property from the Potomac River. The building is a two story school with L-shaped hallways on both levels. On the lower level (essentially the basement) classrooms lined the front of the school and the side facing the football field. The cafeteria was at the center of the L in the basement. Aside from lunches, the space was used for weekly sock hops on Friday nights providing entertainment to students. On the upper floor, classrooms lined the outer walls facing the street. On the football field side, classrooms lined both sides of the hallway. The other side of the hall was mostly occupied by the gym where basketball games were played. Outside, the football field took up a large portion of the property. The football stadium had no lights, so games were played on Friday afternoons with students released early to attend. The property behind the school was also used by gym classes for calisthenics. The football field was also used for years by other local sports teams including the Ridgeley Rams football team.

Extracurricular activities

The Ridgeley Blackhawks football team won the West Virginia Class A championship in 1975.

Former principals

• Festus W Smith (1934–38)
• Melvin M Heiskell (1938–68)
• Golden Adkins (1968–76)