Washington Irving High School was a high school in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The school opened on Lee Avenue in 1914 as Clarksburg High School and was renamed Washington Irving High School in 1915. It operated as a high school until 1995, when it and Roosevelt-Wilson High School were consolidated into Robert C. Byrd High School.
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History
When WI first opened in 1914, it was an all White school; it continued to be segregated until the 1956, when the end of segregation resulted in the permanent closure of Kelly Miller High School, which was Clarksburg's black school.
Notable alumni
Frank Gaylord, sculptor best known for The Column at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.; class of 1943.
Laura Kimble, member of the West Virginia House of Delegates.
Ken Moore, professional football player for the New York Giants.
Mike Patrick, longtime ESPN sportscaster; class of 1962.
Gloria Plevin, painter and printmaker; class of 1952.
Sam Wetzel, United States Army lieutenant general; class of 1948.
Kirsten Wyatt, Broadway actress and singer.
Athletics
Washington Irving was one of the 11 charter members of the West Virginia High School Athletic Association when the organization was formed in 1916. The association was renamed the West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission (WVSSAC) in 1955.
Football
Clay B. "Mud" Hite coached at Washington Irving from 1921 to 1951. His football teams compiled a 169–88–18 record and won state titles in 1922 and 1926. Hite Field in Clarksburg was named in his honor.
Basketball
Hite also coached the boys' basketball team, compiling a 455–177 record. Twenty-three of his 30 Washington Irving teams reached the state tournament.
The boys' basketball team finished as state runner-up in 1939, losing to Fairmont Senior 48–42. Washington Irving returned to the championship game in 1977, finishing 22–4 after a 111–87 loss to Logan in the Class AAA final. In the 1977 tournament, Washington Irving's Jeff Schneider scored 43 points in an 84–74 semifinal victory over Martinsburg and 39 points in the championship game, finishing with 114 points in three tournament games. Schneider received the Bill Evans Award as West Virginia's boys' basketball player of the year in both 1977 and 1978.
The girls' basketball team reached the Class AAA championship game in the first West Virginia girls' state basketball tournament in 1976, finishing 17–4 after a 38–27 loss to undefeated Dunbar. Washington Irving later won back-to-back Class AA state championships in 1983 and 1984.
Cheerleading
Washington Irving also won a state cheerleading championship.