Guyandotte High School - A Brief History

The old Guyandotte High School was built in 1893, it was known by many as the Richmond Street School. Although the school was primarily used for high school students, eventually an overflow of elementary school students was also attending.

By 1919, possibly earlier, the school was no longer in use as other larger schools had been built in the area. Huntington High school was opened in 1916 and the old Guyandotte Elementary was opened in 1917.

The school went up for auction and the highest bidder was the Western Star Masonic Lodge #11. The lodge is the oldest in Cabell County and was chartered in 1818. The first meeting was held at the Barboursville court house in 1820, but by 1824 the lodge was moved to Guyandotte. The lodge became dormant by 1826 due to the Morgan Incident. A new charter was 1849, that charter was thought to have been destroyed in 1861 during the Confederate raid on Guyandotte and subsequent burning of much of the town. he original lodge building was located on Guyan Street, near the Third Ave. bridge. Today the building is still in use by the Masonic Lodge. 

Top photo - Guyandotte Masonic Lodge 2020. Bottom photo: Unknown photographer/source of photo. Historic information for the Masonic Lodge summarized from the original context written by Theresa Racer-Cheshire for the Haunted & Historic Guyandotte Tours. All photos on this site are property of Melissa Stanley unless otherwise noted.