Stonewall Jackson High School is a former high school in

Kanawha County, West Virginia Kanawha County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital. Kanawha Coun ...

. It opened in 1940 and closed in 1989. It was located on the West Side of

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. In 1989, Stonewall Jackson High School and Charleston High School consolidated to become Capital High School. The building is now a middle school. It was named after the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

general

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson (January 21, 1824 – May 10, 1863) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, considered one of the best-known Confederate commanders, after Robert E. Lee. He played a prominent role in near ...

who was from Clarksburg, in what is now West Virginia. In August 2020, following the

Black Lives Matter movement Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

, Stonewall's name was removed from the school, which is now called West Side Middle School.

History

In the late 1930s, Charleston High School became over-crowded so Stonewall Jackson High School was built in 1940 to accommodate the students on the West Side of Charleston. During the 1980s, the student populations at CHS and SJHS dropped. In 1989, Capital High School opened, combining the students of these two former schools. Charleston High School was torn down in mid-1989. Stonewall Jackson High School became Stonewall Jackson Junior High School that same year. A decade later, in 1999, Stonewall Jackson Junior High School became Stonewall Jackson Middle School. In August 2020, following the

, the school was renamed West Side Middle School, part of a city-wide effort to remove memorials of

Confederate soldiers The Confederate States Army, also called the Confederate Army or the Southern Army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fighting ...

. Along with Horace Mann Middle School, it is a feeder school for Capital High School.

References

Pictorial History
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Defunct schools in West Virginia Educational institutions disestablished in 1989 Educational institutions established in 1940 Education in Charleston, West Virginia Schools in Kanawha County, West Virginia 1940 establishments in West Virginia 1980s disestablishments in West Virginia {{DEFAULTSORT:Stonewall_Jackson_High_School_(Charleston,_West_Virginia)