{"nrhp_refnum":"100011700","name":"Belmead (Boundary Increase)","other_names":["St. Francis de Sales School for Girls","St. Emma Military Academy","St. Emma Industrial and Agricultural College","St. Emma Industrial and Agricultural Institute","Dhr Id#: 072-0049"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"5004 Cartersville Road","address_restricted":false,"city":"Powhatan","county":"Powhatan County","state":"VA","lat":null,"lon":null,"geom_source":null},"listed_date":"2025-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History","Agriculture","Ethnic Heritage-Black"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Belmead is a Gothic Villa-style stuccoed brick residence near Powhatan, Powhatan County, Virginia, begun circa 1845 for Philip St. George Cocke and designed by Alexander Jackson Davis. It later became the core of Saint Emma Industrial and Agricultural School.","why_significant":"The nomination calls Belmead one of the few remaining Gothic-style residences in Virginia, and with Staunton Hill the only complete expression of the Gothic Villa in the state. It was designed by the nationally significant Gothic Revival architect A. J. Davis. It is also important for its long association with the education of southern Black students at the school founded there in 1897.","narrative":"Belmead is a two-story, stuccoed brick house in Powhatan County, Virginia, begun around 1845 for Philip St. George Cocke and designed by Gothic Revival architect Alexander Jackson Davis. Towers with Tudor-arched openings, crenellations, diamond-paned casement windows, clustered chimney stacks and stepped gable ends give it a medieval character, while the interior has tall double doors, coffered ceilings and marble mantels echoing the Tudor arch. The design was adapted from a Northern style into a more open form suited to Southern living, and the house is paired with Staunton Hill as the state's only complete Gothic Villa expression. Cocke was a progressive agronomist and a Confederate brigadier general. After later owners, Belmead was bought in the 1890s by Edward and Louise Morrell, who conveyed it in 1897 to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for a school educating Black and Native American students. It continued as part of that school's campus.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1845)","architect_builder":"Alexander Jackson Davis (architect)","architectural_style":"Gothic Villa / Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, altered, and occupied; in use as part of a Catholic military school. The interior was adapted for school faculty use, and an extensive addition was built by the school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.890766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/6826/41682652/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000270.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682652","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/powhatan-county/belmead-boundary-increase-100011700/"}