{"nrhp_refnum":"09000065","name":"Dry Bridge School","other_names":["East Martinsville Grammer School","Vdhr Id 120-5034"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1005 Jordan St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Martinsville","county":"Martinsville","state":"VA","lat":36.69202408700005,"lon":-79.84882356799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-02-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick four-classroom school at 1005 Jordan Street in East Martinsville, Virginia, built 1928-1930 with Rosenwald Fund support for the area's Black students.","why_significant":"It is tied to the School Improvement League of East Martinsville Baptist Church, which raised money and campaigned for better education for the Black community. It is also an excellent, largely intact example of a Rosenwald school built to the fund's published Four Teacher Community School plan. It is the only one of three Rosenwald schools built in Henry County that still stands.","narrative":"Dry Bridge School is a one-story brick schoolhouse on Jordan Street in East Martinsville, built between 1928 and 1930 for the area's Black children. Its plan follows the Rosenwald Fund's Four Teacher Community School design, with four classrooms and two offices, tall pressed-tin ceilings, large wood sash windows and original blackboards. Brickwork in a Flemish bond variant and arched entrances echo colonial buildings. The school resulted from a campaign begun in 1927 by the School Improvement League of East Martinsville Baptist Church, which raised money for the lot and part of the cost. The Rosenwald Fund gave $1,200 toward a total of $7,800. Principal J. L. Hairston and later Rev. R. T. Anderson led the school, which served as a community gathering place. It joined the Martinsville school district in 1948 and closed after the 1967-1968 year. A workshop for handicapped residents has used the site since 1969, and the building is now used for storage. It is the only surviving Rosenwald school in Henry County.","period_of_significance":"(A) 1927-1948; (C) 1928-1930","architect_builder":"Moore Lumber Company; Finley, McCoy and Hinskey","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Currently used only for storage by a non-profit organization; the form says it is protected from alteration and that funds are being raised for maintenance and restoration.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.781423-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/6787/41678736/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/09000065.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000065/29350d902c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000065/29350d902c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dry_Bridge_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dry_Bridge_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678736","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_Bridge_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16962959"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/martinsville/dry-bridge-school-09000065/"}