{"nrhp_refnum":"00001551","name":"Lee County Training School","other_names":["Wicker, W.B., School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"806 S. Vance St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sanford","county":"Lee County","state":"NC","lat":35.47389500200006,"lon":-79.18247875199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-12-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick school building at 806 South Vance Street in Sanford, Lee County, North Carolina, built in 1927 with additions in 1934 and 1949. It was originally the Lee County Training School and later known as the W. B. Wicker School.","why_significant":"It served as Sanford and Lee County's African American high school from 1927 until 1969 and was the focus of local efforts to expand educational opportunities for Black students. It is also considered a largely intact example of an early twentieth-century brick school from the era of school consolidation, and it received Rosenwald Fund support.","narrative":"Built in 1927 at 806 South Vance Street in Sanford, this one-story brick building served as the county's African American high school for more than four decades. Originally called the Lee County Training School, it was renamed in 1954 for its first principal, William Bartelle Wicker. Designed by architect H. B. Hunter and built by local Black contractor A. L. \"Link\" Boykin, it was funded partly through the Rosenwald Fund and was among the state's largest Rosenwald facilities, with ten classrooms and a library. Additions followed in 1934 and 1949. Its flat roof, linear form and tall boiler flue give it a utilitarian, almost industrial look. The school met Southern Association accreditation requirements in 1946-47 and closed as a high school in 1969 after integration. Classes ended in 1990, and the interior suffered from neglect and vandalism, though most historic features survive. A rehabilitation was being planned when it was listed.","period_of_significance":"1927-1950","architect_builder":"Architect H. B. Hunter (with technical assistance from L. M. Thompson); builder A. L. \"Link\" Boykin; 1949 addition by William Henley Deitrick","architectural_style":"No Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in 1990 and in poor condition from neglect, vandalism and roof leaks; a rehabilitation was planned and the property was listed as work in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:54.710357-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/7181/47718137/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/00001551.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001551/4cc0862604-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001551/4cc0862604-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LEE_COUNTY_TRAINING_SCHOOL;_LEE_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LEE_COUNTY_TRAINING_SCHOOL;_LEE_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718137","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_County_Training_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19986758"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/lee-county/lee-county-training-school-00001551/"}