Fix Our Homestead Community Center Restrooms

For 80 years the Homestead School and community center has been the beating heart of the Tygart Valley Homestead community in Randolph County WV. Created by Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program to provide housing and work for unemployed coal miners and others who lost their jobs in the great Depression, the community helped people gain home ownership through sweat equity. Descendents of many of the original Homesteaders still live in the community today, and have for years supported the school through our Tygart Valley Homestead Association. The unique architecture and historic importance of the community led to its being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 as “Tygart Valley Homesteads Historic District.”

Declining enrollment and budgetary problems resulted in deferring much needed upkeep, and eventually led to the County Board of Education placing the Homestead School on its closure list.  The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia in 2016 named the school a significant Endangered Property .A determined community effort led by the Tygart Valley Homestead Association convinced the Board of Education to rescind the closure decision, but shortly after this victory a freak windstorm damaged the school building to the point that the school system determined it was no longer safe for student occupancy.

This was a major setback, but we of the Tygart Valley Homestead Association didn’t give up, and convinced the powers that be to turn the building over to us for a token payment.   We managed to raise enough money to get the roof fixed, and have done major upgrades to the school’s electrical system, but now we are faced with a daunting project: bringing the school building back up to standard so it can continue to serve as a community center.

The number one item on our priority list is to bring the restrooms up to modern standards – some of the 80 year old original fixtures are still in place.  It’s hard to invite people to use our facility when the bathrooms look like this. If the sinks and toilets could be fixed and repaired, that would be what we would try to do. But the fixtures are so outdated, parts for them are no longer available. Please help us bring this special place back to life!