Seminary Building (1890)

The original building was the West Virginia Conference Seminary Building (mainly referred to as The Seminary Building).

It opened in 1890, and until 1895 was the only building on the campus, when it was joined by Ladies Hall – now known as Agnes Howard Hall.

The Seminary Building burned on Feburary 4, 1905 due to sparks from the heating system.

Read more about this building below. Be sure to click the links provided.

Drawing of Seminary Building in 1890 Catalog

Seminary Building Fire 1905-02-04

1890 Seminary Building

The first building was so named because that reflected the original name of the school – and for several years it was the only building! The West Virginia Conference Seminary was founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1890 after decades of planning and fundraising. (Today we think of a Seminary as a school for theological training of pastors, but at that time “seminary” simply meant preparatory school. College level degrees were offered beginning in 1903.) This building was destroyed by a fire in 1905. Another building (the Lynch-Raine Administration Building) was constructed on this site in 1906.

(1888-10-11) This day In 1888, the contract for the Seminary Building to be erected was signed by the Henry O’Blennes Company [Pharos, 1958-10-02, p.3]

(1890-09-03) The West Virginia Conference Seminary, Buckhannon, West Virginia: A High Grade Institution Of Learning For Both Sexes will open its doors for students. Offers superior advantages at small expense. [Haught, 55] There were 70 students, and the first student enrolled was Roy Reger.

(1905-02-04) The Seminary building, built in 1890, caught fire. (Haught,148)

For more photos of the Seminary Building, click here to view album on Flickr.