Mount de Chantal History
The Wheeling Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy was established in 1848 when the Most Rev. Richard V. Whelan invited eight Visitation Sisters from Baltimore to open a school for girls. Originally called the Wheeling Female Academy, the school was first located at 14th and Eoff streets. In 1865, the school moved to a new building three miles outside the city on the former Steenrod Farm (located just off the of the current Washington exit off of I-70). It was renamed Mount de Chantal after Saint Jane de Chantal, the co-founder of the Visitation Order.
The Mount de Chantal school building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. The Mount was known for its strong academic and fine arts programs. It remained boarding school until 1982. In the subsequent years, declining enrollment and financial support led to the school’s closing after 160 years of operation, with the last class graduating on May 31, 2008.
Wheeling Hospital purchased Mount de Chantal in 2011, and despite being listed as a 2011 Endangered Property by the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, the school was demolished in November of that year. In November 2013 Wheeling Jesuit University opened the Mount de Chantal Conservatory of Music in honor of the Visitation Sisters of Mount de Chantal.
Location
▶ Entrance/Front Gate at 410 Washington Ave (school demolished November 2011)
Images
Additional Resources
Materials in the Wheeling Room: (non-circulating, ask for access at the reference desk)
▶ Vertical File: Wheeling Schools A-Z
▶ Vertical File: Mount de Chantal
▶ Yearbooks: Mount de Chantal Academy
▶ Yearbooks: The Mount Yearbook
▶ Yearbooks: The Mount
▶ Yearbooks: M de C
▶ Yearbooks: Yearbook of the Alumnae of Mount de Chantal, Wheeling, W. Va.
▶ "Centenary of the Convent of the Visitation : Mount de Chantal, Wheeling, West Virginia, 1848-1948," 1948. Wheeling Room, non-circulating, ask for access at the reference desk. Call#: Wheeling 373.754 C333 1948
Materials in the Library's Archives: (non-circulating, view by appointment only*)
*Call 304-232-0244 or send an email to make an appointment to view archival materials.
▶ The Mount, Mt. d C. newsletters from 1890-1901.
▶ Vertical file: Mount de Chantal Academy.
▶ Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation (WNHAC) Records, Boxes 2, 11 and 13. (View finding aid for WNHAC collection.)
