Pipe Organ Database

a project of the organ historical society

L. W. Barnhart (1959)

Originally Hillgreen, Lane & Co. (Opus 490, 1919)

Location:

West Virginia Wesleyan College
59 College Avenue
Buckhannon, WV 26201 US
L.L. Loar and Family Memorial Music Building - Auditorium
Organ ID: 51446

Update This Entry

Status and Condition:

  • This instrument's location type is: Colleges and Universities
  • The organ is no longer a complete instrument; dispersed/parted out.
  • The organ's condition is not playable.
We received the most recent update for this instrument's status from Database Manager on May 13, 2018.

Technical Details:

  • Chests: Information unknown or not applicable
  • 4 divisions. 3 manuals. 32 stops.
All:
  • Position: Pipes exposed (in whole or in part) at the front of the room.
We received the most recent update for this division from Database Manager on May 13, 2018.
Main:
  • Manuals: 3
  • Divisions: 4
  • Stops: 32
  • Position: Console in fixed position, right.
  • Manual Compass: 61
  • Pedal Compass: 32
  • Key Action: Electrical connection from key to chest.
  • Stop Action: Electric connection between stop control and chest.
  • Console Style: Traditional style with roll top.
  • Stop Controls: Tilting/rocking tablets above top manual.
  • Swell Control Type: Balanced swell shoes/pedals.
  • Pedalboard Type: Concave radiating pedalboard.
  • Has Tutti Reversible Thumb Pistons
  • Has Tutti Reversible Toe Pistons
  • Has Combination Action Thumb Pistons
  • Has Combination Action Toe Pistons
  • Has Coupler Reversible Thumb Pistons
  • Has Coupler Reversible Toe Pistons
We received the most recent update for this console from Database Manager on May 13, 2018.
Database Manager on June 05, 2013:

Updated through online information from Brett Miller. -- This instrument was installed in the auditorium of the L.L. Loar Family Memorial Music Building, which was dedicated in 1953; while the building and the auditorium are still in use, the organ is entirely inoperable and portions of the instrument (including the console) have been removed. The organ was located high above the rear of the auditorium stage with two expression chambers (swell and solo) flanking a central section of exposed pipes.

According to college newspaper accounts, the specification was designed by Robert Shafer, professor of organ at West Virginia Wesleyan, with half of the pipework coming from a Hillgreen, Lane, & Co. organ (likely Op. 490 - 1919) that had been installed in the third floor recital hall of the college's original 1902 music building.
The rest of the pipework, along with the console, were provided by the M.P. Möller Company and the whole instrument was installed by L.W. Barnhart of Parkersburg, West Virginia.
The dedication recital was given by Dr. Marshall Bidell, organist and music director of the Carnegie Music Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, on October 14, 1959.

We received the most recent update for this note from Database Manager on February 11, 2019.
Database Manager on June 04, 2013:

This entry describes an original installation of a new pipe organ. Identified by Brett Miller, based on personal knowledge of the organ. --

We received the most recent update for this note from Database Manager on April 09, 2020.
Source not recorded: Open In New Tab Stoplist taken from 10/06/1959 issue of 'The Pharos' (WV Wesleyan College newspaper)
We received the most recent update for this stoplist from Database Manager on April 09, 2020.

Instrument Images:

Pipe Display with Swell Box (left) and Solo Box (right): Photograph from the West Virginia Wesleyan College Archives; image courtesy of Brett Miller. Taken on 1962-06-06

Console: Photograph from the West Virginia Wesleyan College Archives; image courtesy of Brett Miller. Taken on 1962-06-06

Console: Photograph from the West Virginia Wesleyan College Archives; image courtesy of Brett Miller. Taken on 1962-06-06