Blue Ridge School history

There was an inn with 35 rooms atop the hill on 10 acres along the Chimney Rock Road when Joseph R. Sandifer bought the land in 1914.

The first graduate of the Blue Ridge School for Boys was John Caldwell Erwin, who was later executive vice president of Allison-Erwin Co. in Charlotte and a member of the Alumni Advisory Council for the school In 1918, Randolph sold his interest to Sandifer.

He was a charter member of the Rotary Club in 1927, serving as president, district governor and director of Rotary International.

Built of native stone by local craftsmen and designed by noted architect Ralph Adam Cram, the Chapel was completed in 1932.

Newly appointed Athletic Director James “Stimp” Hawkins coached the team and remained head football coach until 1968.

The land was purchased in 1971, but the struggle to build a new school continued for many years.

Shepherd Community College officially began in 1974 when the nursing department became the first two-year program to be adopted by Shepherd.

Hatcher C. Williams was appointed Headmaster and began an influential term that lasted until 1984.

In July 1986, a historical plaque was placed on a pillar inside the mall acknowledging the site as the former home of the school.

In 1989, at the request of the West Virginia State Board of Directors, the Community and Technical College named its first Dean, Doctor Peter Checkovich.

The renovation of the Berkeley Building of the former Blue Ridge Outlet Complex began in June 2001 and classes began at the Community and Technical College on August 20, 2001.

The following article on the Blue Ridge School for Boys was published in October 2003 in the Hendersonville Times-News and written by Jennie Jones Giles.

In Fall of 2009, the College purchased 46 acres on Route 45 in Martinsburg, which now houses the new main campus.