8 sites added to Virginia Landmarks Register; more …

Here’s a roundup of news briefs from around Southwest and Southside. Send yours for possible inclusion to news@cardinalnews.org .

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8 sites added to Virginia Landmarks Register

Historic sites in Galax, Lynchburg, Big Stone Gap and Bluefield are among those added this month to the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The Board of Historic Resources approved eight properties for inclusion on the register during its quarterly meeting on Sept. 19, according to a news release from the state. The register is the commonwealth’s official list of places of historic, architectural, archaeological and cultural significance.

The Department of Historic Resources will forward the documentation for the newly listed sites to the National Park Service for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. Listing a property in the state or national registers doesn’t set any restrictions on what owners may do with their property; designating a property to the state or national registers provides an owner the opportunity to pursue historic rehabilitation tax credit improvements.

Here are the sites that were added, with historic details provided by the Department of Historic Resources:

• James A. Bland High School in Big Stone Gap provided education for Black students from 1954 to 1965. Bland High School is also associated with the Black educator Cato H. Shorter, who worked in the school system for many years before serving as principal of the school throughout its years of operation. Bland High School closed in 1965 after the county continued efforts to resist integration of its public schools. The school reopened as an integrated school in 1969. In 1987, the property was adapted into use as Big Stone Gap Town Hall.

• The Rosenwald Felts School was the only Rosenwald-funded school constructed in Galax. Built using funds from the local African American community, the Rosenwald Fund and contributions from Thomas L. Felts, the white co-owner of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency, the original part of the school was constructed in 1926. A large addition was built in 1956. The school continued to serve Black students until it closed in 1969. During its years of operation, the school became a social hub of the African American community in Galax. The school building now serves as a community center and houses the local Head Start educational program.

• Founded in 1913, Sta-Kleen Bakery in Lynchburg quickly grew from a small local establishment into a statewide and regional business that sold its products across Virginia and in West Virginia and North Carolina. Sta-Kleen became a local producer and seller of the nationwide brand Sunbeam Bread. The building that housed the former bakery was built in several phases from 1913 through the 1940s. Although vacant in recent years, the building remains in fair condition with many historic materials and features intact.

• The Bluefield Commercial Historic District embodies the growth and prosperity experienced in Bluefield starting in the late 19th century, when the rise of coal mining and the expansion of the Norfolk and Western Railroad brought unprecedented economic opportunities to the region. The historic district continues to serve as the cultural and commercial hub for the surrounding community. Built between 1895 and circa 1970, most of the commercial buildings in the historic district reflect the architectural styles favored during the Reconstruction and post-World War I eras in Virginia’s history.
  
• The Parrish Hill School in Charles City County provided education for Black students during the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in Virginia’s public schools. The school was built in 1920 using funds from the local Black community, the county and the Rosenwald Fund. The single-story, two-classroom school closed in 1959 when the county began efforts to consolidate small schools.

• The Mica School was constructed in 1915 at the request of local parishioners of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Charles City County. It provided education for Black children during 20th-century segregation in Virginia’s public school system until it closed in 1951. The school received Rosenwald funds, even though it was built before the start of the official dispersal of program funds in 1917. The Mica School offered classes taught by a single teacher and accommodated as many as 50 students in multiple grade levels at a time. Residents managed the school’s operations, including the maintenance and repair of the building and outhouses as well as raising funds for supplies and books.

• Union Zion Baptist Church was established in Gloucester County in 1867 by a small group of congregants from Zion Poplars Baptist Church. It is one of the earliest churches founded and built by emancipated African Americans in the county in the years following the end of the Civil War. Union Zion Baptist Church and its associated cemetery were part of a larger movement in the South during the mid- to late-19th century in which congregations within Black communities grew independently from white churches and created their own spaces for worship and gatherings.

• The Kernstown Battlefield Historic District is composed of the 315-acre Pritchard-Grim Farm and the noncontiguous 37.5-acre Sandy Ridge Tract, both of which are in Frederick County, with portions of the farm located in Winchester. Three buildings dating to the late-18th and mid-19th centuries serve as the architectural anchors of the Pritchard-Grim property, which has been farmed for more than 250 years. The Kernstown Battlefield Historic District was the site of three important Civil War battles: First Kernstown (1862), Second Winchester (1863), and Second Kernstown (1864).

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Solar open house planned for Russell County

The Solar Workgroup of Southwest Virginia and Energy Right are hosting a solar open house for residents of Russell County and surrounding areas.

The event will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Lebanon Community Center. It will start with a short presentation on community-scale and larger-scale solar projects, and then offer an open house where attendees can get their questions answered.

“Southwest Virginia is seeing increased interest from solar companies and utilities thanks to private investments coupled with federal and state initiatives,” said Austin Counts, Southwest Virginia solar and electrification projects manager for Appalachian Voices. “Our goal is for community members to get the information they need to understand how solar development could impact the region.”

The open house is free and open to the public, and refreshments will be provided. RSVP at www.energyrightus.org/russell or by contacting Austin Counts at austin@appvoices.org.

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Lynchburg seeks input on future of former White Rock Elementary

The city of Lynchburg is hosting a series of community meetings to discuss the future of the former White Rock Elementary School.

The 1912 building recently was vacated by the Lynchburg Community Action Group. The city council this year approved money to support community input, design and improvements to convert it into a facility to serve the White Rock neighborhood, according to a news release from the city.

The project will include the entire block containing the school buildings bounded by Buena Vista, Poplar, Harvey and Tulip streets. The city has contracted with WPA: Work Program Architects for the project.

The city and WPA will host the first of several community meetings about the project from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Diamond Hill Baptist Church, 1415 Grace St. Lunch will be provided.

Additional project meetings are scheduled for Nov. 16 and Dec. 7; details will be announced, the city said.

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