Byrd Prillerman High School was established here in 1927 for Afro American students in this coal mining area. It was named in honor of a former slave who became an eminent state educator and president of West Virginia State College. The two-story frame building, first used as a white elementary school, was remodeled and enlarged into a stone and brick school with 14 rooms and a gymnasium for students in the first through twelfth grades. Its first graduating class in 1931 had four members. The building was destroyed by fire on Jan. 12, 1962, and its 204 students and 10 teachers were transferred to other integrated schools, including Mark Twain, Sophia, and Stoco High Schools, all later consolidated into Independence High School. A nearby football practice field full of tree stumps became an ideal training ground, and players said they learned to dodge the stumps, a skill that carried into games and led to several state championships. During its 31 years of existence, the school graduated 786 students, many of whom followed in Byrd Prillerman's footsteps.