The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind (WVSDB) were established by an Act of the Legislature on March 3, 1870. The School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind offer comprehensive educational programs for hearing impaired and visually impaired students respectively. There is also a unit for deafblind and multihandicapped children. Students are eligible to enroll at the age of three, must be residents of the state of West Virginia and exhibit a hearing or visual loss sufficient to prevent normal progress in the usual public school setting. The West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind are located on a campus in Romney in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle. Locally, the schools are referred to simply as The state school.
The schools' administration building, 2013
Faculty and staff at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind in 1884. Standing left to right: Mr. Shaeffer, Principal John Collins Covell, Abraham D. Hays, and math professor E. L. Chapin; Seated left to right: school founder Howard Hille Johnson, J. B. McGann, Lulie Kern, Martha Clelland, Sarah Caruthers, and deaf school principal H. H. Chidester.
Image: WV Schools for the Deaf and Blind Romney WV 1912 01
Image: WV Schools for the Deaf and Blind Romney WV 2007 05 06 01
Romney, West Virginia
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Romney is a town in and the county seat of Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 1,722 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Winchester, Virginia metropolitan area. The town was established in 1762 along with Shepherdstown; together, they are the two oldest towns in West Virginia.
National Building in downtown Romney
Early 20th Century view of Romney
Romney's New Century Hotel, East Main Street, 1948
Old Romney High School, originally Romney Public School.