Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy

Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy was a private Catholic all-girls school in the city of Wheeling in the U.S. state of West Virginia.

Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy (1889)
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Location	Washington Ave., Wheeling, West Virginia
Coordinates	40°4′10″N 80°41′38″W
Built	1865
Architect	Barthberger, Charles F.; Whelan, Bishop Vincent
Architectural style	Eclectic Victorian
NRHP reference No.	78002808 [1]
Added to NRHP	November 27, 1978

Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy
Address
Washington Avenue Wheeling , West Virginia
Information
Type	Private, All-Female (5-12)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Established	1848
Closed	2008
Grades	PK-12
Website	http://www.mountdechantal.org

History

It was founded in 1848 as the Wheeling Female Academy in downtown Wheeling and in 1865 moved to its final location and assumed its permanent name. While grades five through twelve were all female, Mount de Chantal's Montessori and Elementary schools were co-ed. They were members of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference.

The school building was built in 1864-1865. The original structure was composed of three major parts connected by two recessed wings. The building was constructed of brick, on a limestone foundation, with a slate covered gable roof. A two-storied brick porch, added about 1910, extended the entire width. The Fine Arts addition was built in 1906, the "laundry building" in 1908, and living quarters for the Sisters in 1972.[2]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.[1] The school ceased operations on May 31, 2008 with the nuns being transferred to Georgetown Visitation in Washington D.C.[3] Wheeling Hospital announced they were purchasing the building on April 13, 2010.[4] No plans were announced and several historic societies were looking into preservation efforts but nothing was ever solidified. Demolition plans were announced and finalized in November 2011. Several items left behind by the nuns were auctioned off and razing efforts commenced on November 7, 2011.[5] No plans have been announced for the site, although the grounds are currently being used as practice fields for the local Catholic High Schools.

Notable Alumnae

• Carrie Watson Fleming, First lady of West Virginia, 1890–1893
• Edna Hall Scott Kump, First lady of West Virginia, 1933–1937
• Judith Herndon, West Virginia state senator
• Heidi Lindert
• Virginia B. Evans, artist
• Oriska Worden, singer and vaudeville performer

See also

• List of historic sites in Ohio County, West Virginia
• List of Registered Historic Places in West Virginia

External links

• Official site

References

• "Mount de Chantal Centenary 1848 - 1948". Archived from the original (PDF) on September 17, 2012. Retrieved September 17, 2012.
• Wereschagin, Mike (September 17, 2012). "Civil War-era school in West Virginia is left to only memory". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. Sr. Mary Helen O'Brien and Mrs. Robert Miller (March 1978). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-09-01.
3. W.Va. losing 160-year-old Catholic girls’ school
4. http://www.news-register.net/page/content.detail/id/536713.html?nav=5196
5. "Demolition Begins At Mount de Chantal". The Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register. 8 November 2011. Retrieved 19 November 2011.