Old Main
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Nicholas County High School (Old Main)
1913–1917, H. Rus Warne. Southwest corner of Main St. and Alderson Ave.
Sited on the brow of a hill at the western edge of Summersville, this sandstone structure stands two stories tall above a high basement, with projecting end pavilions breaking up its long expanse. Walls are quarry faced, laid in random rubble. The school, an impressive achievement for its time and place, was obviously planned with future growth in mind. To the rear, extending in a T shape, is an auditorium that seats 500, more than double Summersville's 1910 population. The school had sixty-five students when it opened.
As built, the high school was nearly identical to Warne's Administration Building at Concord College ( ME6.1) in Mercer County, although that structure was of brick rather than stone. Both had short, crenellated towers above central entrances, pedimented end pavilions with secondary entrances, and identical fenestration.
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