{"nrhp_refnum":"01001513","name":"Starkey School","other_names":["80-348"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6426 Merriman Rd., SW","address_restricted":false,"city":"Roanoke County","county":"Roanoke (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.20198736200007,"lon":-79.99890001899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-01-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick schoolhouse at 6426 Merriman Road SW in the former village of Starkey, Roanoke County, Virginia. It was built in 1915 as a graded school, possibly incorporating a ca. 1894 one-room frame school, and was expanded in 1928 and 1949.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an architecturally important surviving graded schoolhouse from before the 1920s county school consolidation, with 1928 brick wings that follow standardized school plans (Criterion C). It also reflects about 67 years of service to an agricultural village and the later consolidation of Roanoke County's schools (Criterion A). It is described as the last vestige of the village.","narrative":"Starkey School is a small brick schoolhouse on Merriman Road in southwest Roanoke County, Virginia, in what was once the farming village of Starkey. The first school, a one-room frame building, dates to about 1894 and stood on land owned by J.G. Starkey. In 1915 it was replaced or rebuilt in brick, perhaps around the older structure, and became a two-room graded school with a hip roof and plaster interiors. In 1928 two tall brick wings with Flemish bond and cast-stone parapets were added, matching standardized school plans then used across the county. A low brick and concrete block infill followed in 1949. The school closed in 1961, and Roanoke County later used it as a senior center. It then sat vacant for years before new owners began restoration. It was listed for its architecture as a surviving graded school and for its role in local education during the consolidation of county schools.","period_of_significance":"1915 to 1951","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"OTHER","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in 1961, later a senior citizens center, then vacant from 1986 until 1999. At the time of the nomination it housed a family business office and was being restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.984035-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/71/6832/41683271/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/01001513.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001513/9491075a20-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001513/9491075a20-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Molly Cardenas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StarkeySchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Molly Cardenas</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:StarkeySchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683271","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starkey_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900668"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/roanoke/starkey-school-01001513/"}