Parkersburg for more than 138 years is set to be demolished tomorrow, Friday, July 12,
2002. We were informed by a source, who wished to remain anonymous, at the hospital
Tuesday that St. Joseph's Hospital finally made the decision to tear down the decrepit,
heavily vandalized structure, which has been a controversial topic in the Parkersburg area
for years. They also informed us that the final decision was in part due to someone setting
fire to the building's basement, destroying part of the basement and first floor last month.
That doesn't satisfy at least one longtime resident of the area. "It is truly a shame that a
hospital with as much money as St. Joe's has, will do nothing to save the history of the
community that supports them. They could give a little back, they only care about us when
they can make some more money," said the man, who wished to remain anonymous,
Wednesday night while standing outside the hospital looking up at the old academy.
The original group of eight Sisters of the Visitation who were to form the DeSales Heights
Academy came to Parkersburg, West Virginia, in 1864, (one year after the state was created)
to open the first Catholic girls' school in the area. Their presence caused great interest to
the people there who were not used to the sight of women dressed in Seventeenth
Century attire.
Initially, the Sisters met with a few setbacks, most notably that the convent was located
next door to a saloon which attracted a rather raucous clientele. However, they managed
to establish a Catholic girls' boarding school and a benevolent school to aid the children of
poorer families. Eventually they constructed a monastery designed on the model of the
original Visitation site in Annecy, France, high on a hill overlooking the city and the Ohio
River. Although the interior of the monastery remained simple and austere in accordance
with the rules of the Order, the new DeSales Heights Academy included nearly ten acres of
beautiful formal grounds and a magnificent chapel carved from the same Italian marble that
Michelangelo used to carve his masterpieces.
The school thrived and soon developed a reputation that extended far beyond the
borders of the state. Pupils were attracted from all over the eastern United States as the
name DeSales Heights became synonymous with the formation of young ladies who would
stand out in their communities and in their nation. Before long, daughters of the heads of
state of Central and South American countries were sent to DeSales Heights for their
educations.
According to a 1992 study entitled "The Future of Religious Orders in the United States"
conducted by Father David Nygren, CM and Sister Miram Ukeritis, CSJ, membership in U.S.
Catholic religious orders has declined 40 percent since 1962. Although traditionally three
times more women than men entered Catholic religious life, today the number of men and
women becoming priests, religious brothers or nuns in the United States is about equal.
In March 1991, after serving the community of Parkersburg, West Virginia, since 1864, the
Sisters announced that they would no longer be able to continue. By 1992 the halls that
were once filled with the laughter and noise of children fell silent forever, as the remaining
sisters were carted off to live their final years away from the only home they had known
most of their lives.
Today, as the last surviving sister of the order, who once lived and worked in DeSales
mourns the loss, a second time, and picks up a few bricks from the home where she grew
up. We should all share in her grief because we as West Virginians have lost an important
part of our heritage. The building might be gone, but it left me and all of our group with an
impression, far beyond just the paranormal aspect, that we will never forget.
Goodbye, DeSales Heights Academy, I am sure that you will be missed and remembered
long after your walls are brought down.
Director of WVGH
