N&W in 1903 -- Colored Institute

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WILL SELL RAILWAY THE ENTIRE PROPERTY
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    The board of regents of the Colored Institute have returned to their homes after an important meeting.
    The Norfolk and Western railroad has found that it requires a considerable portion of the property of the colored institute for its purposes.  In order to secure this, the attorneys for that railroad prepared proceedings in condemnation, and a decision in the courts favorable to the railroad would deprive that school of a large portion of the land on which the institution is located and work a permanent injury to the efficiency of the school.  Consequently the regents have been in session trying to arrive at some solution of the trouble by which the interests of the school many be preserved.
    As a final result of their deliberations it is proposed to dispose of the entire property, consisting of about four acres, together with the buildings, to the railroad company and a new location to be secured for the institution.  This is the proposition now in the hands of the attorneys representing both side of the controversy.  If the proposition is agreeable a new location, near Bluefield, will be secured for the school, and the entire property will be taken over by the Norfolk and Western railroad.
    The meeting of the regents and their conference with the representatives of the railroad company was of an amicable character and it is generally believed they will arrive at some happy solution of the difficulty by which all parties will be satisfied.

Bluefield Daily Telegraph
August 15, 1903

[This state school was known as Bluefield Colored Institute 1895-1932, Bluefield State Teachers College 1932-1943, Bluefield State College 1943 to today, and it is located on the north side of the railroad west of downtown Bluefield.  The campus eventually expanded to 23 acres.  The attached aerial view shows the proximity of the campus to the railroad.  This school is not to be confused with Bluefield College, a Baptist affiliated school across the state line in Virginia.]

Gordon Hamilton

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