{"nrhp_refnum":"09000123","name":"Flat Gap High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Rt. 671","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pound","county":"Wise County","state":"VA","lat":37.085191628000075,"lon":-82.69333951599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-03-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small rural stone high school on Route 671 near Pound in northern Wise County, Virginia, built in 1935-1936 and later converted to a community center. It sits on less than one acre with a stone retaining wall and footbridge piers.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant under Criterion C for architecture at the local level, because of its unusual classically derived yet rustic design and construction in locally quarried sandstone. It is described as a rare educational resource, since no other early 20th century school in Wise County was built of local stone. It also kept a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Flat Gap High School, on Route 671 near Pound in northern Wise County, was built in 1935-1936 as a small rural high school. Local stonemasons and craftsmen raised its one-foot-thick walls from locally quarried sandstone, cut in rustic fashion and laid in coursed pink, orange, tan and gray stone. The three-part plan, molded cornice with gable returns, and round-arched entrance with granite voussoirs supply the classical references. Thomas M. Pepper is credited with the design. A planned gymnasium and auditorium wing was never constructed. Inside are four classrooms and offices, with original blackboards, oak floors and a pressed tin shingle roof still in place. The school drew attention for its boys' basketball teams in the 1930s. High school students moved to Pound in 1945, and the building served as an elementary school and later a kindergarten. Since the 1970s it has been a community center. It was listed for its architecture, as a rare stone school in the county.","period_of_significance":"1935-1936","architect_builder":"Pepper, Thomas M.; Wells, Leonas; Sturgill, Emory","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as a community center since the 1970s; the school remains largely unaltered, with an unfinished rear section where a planned gymnasium/auditorium wing was never built.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.688736-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/6841/41684170/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/09000123.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000123/bbda239f24-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000123/bbda239f24-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"L.N.farm","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flat_Gap_High_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">L.N.farm</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flat_Gap_High_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684170","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Gap_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15217848"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/wise-county/flat-gap-high-school-09000123/"}