With the growth of settlement in Pearsall's Flats, which was later the location of Romney, the need for educational facilities became apparent and the community began plans for the establishment of schools and churches.

Local education, including Romney Academy, continued to depend exclusively upon subscriptions until 1810 when the Virginia General Assembly passed what was known as the "Literary Fund".

On December 12, 1846, the Virginia General Assembly empowered the Romney Literary Society to establish a seminary for learning at the academy.

As the school's popularity grew and knowledge of its curriculum under Dr. Foote spread, Romney Academy began to attract students from beyond the South Branch Potomac River valley region.

Lord Fairfax originally planned to maintain the South Branch Survey as his personal manor but later commissioned James Genn to survey the South Branch Potomac River lowlands for sale in 1748, with land lots ranging in size from 300 acres (120 ha) to 400 acres (160 ha).

[11][12][13] In the early years in western Virginia, pioneer settlers were primarily concerned with providing defense from Native American attacks, so little emphasis was placed upon education.

[15] With the growth of settlement in Pearsall's Flats, and later Romney, the need for educational facilities became apparent and the community began plans for the establishment of schools and churches.

[17] By the time the surveyors on behalf of Lord Fairfax had laid out the town of Romney in 1762, the log school was still in existence along with other public buildings.

[21] Following the American Revolutionary War, education in Virginia was provided predominantly by private "district schools" whose curriculum was decided by the people who funded them.

[22] Despite the bill's failure, the Virginia General Assembly continued incorporated academies or "classical schools" throughout the state to provide primary and secondary education.

Despite being incorporated by the assembly, the academies were not public and were instead funded through tuition fees, which were generally low but prevented a larger number of students from attending them.

[25][26] An amended version of the bill was again presented to the Virginia House of Delegates for a third time by Mr. Scott, and it was passed by the legislative body and renamed "an act incorporating the trustees of Romney Academy in the county of Hampshire".

Accounts rendered to the Hampshire County court for the expenditure of the Literary Fund illustrated that "the average price of tuition, exclusive of books, paper, etc.

[33] In 1820, as a result of this movement and debate, Romney Academy incorporated classical studies into its curriculum, thus making it the first institution of higher education in the region.

[34][35] Following a ten-year lapse after this authorization, the society made arrangements with James Gregory of Jersey City, New Jersey, and Daniel McIntyre of Philadelphia to finance the lottery, "for raising a sum of money not exceeding Twenty Thousand dollars, for the purpose of erecting a suitable building for their accommodation, the purchase of a library and Philosophical apparatus".

[33][37] Thomas and Samuel Mulledy each later served as presidents of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.[38] Presbyterian Reverend and historian Dr. William Henry Foote succeeded Johnston as principal of Romney Academy around 1826.

[41] Foote introduced courses in theology into the school's curriculum, which broadened the make-up of the student body to include young men preparing for the ministry.

[34] As the school's popularity grew and knowledge of its curriculum under Dr. Foote spread, Romney Academy began to attract students from beyond the South Branch Potomac River valley region.

[20][48][49] According to West Virginia historians Hu Maxwell and Howard Llewellyn Swisher in their History of Hampshire County, West Virginia (1897), the Romney Academy building was one of the earliest educational facilities in the county and regarding its architecture, Maxwell and Swisher noted: "the rough unhewn stones of which the academy was built gave it a very uncouth exterior.

[39][50] After the academy's stone building ceased being used as an educational facility, it was subsequently utilized for various purposes including serving as the offices of the Virginia Argus and Hampshire Advertiser newspaper and as a meeting place for local fraternal organizations.

[37] Romney Academy's stone building remained dormant and unoccupied for a number of years and was demolished by the time Maxwell and Swisher researched and authored their History of Hampshire County, West Virginia in the late 1890s.

Of the institution, Maxwell stated that "from its halls went forth some of the teachers who became the disseminators of learning in the famous South Branch [valley]—whose people might appropriately be called the Phoenicians of the Alleghenies, the carriers of liberty, equality, and education.