{"nrhp_refnum":"69000270","name":"Belmead (Additional Documentation)","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":37.62326782550005,"lon":-77.97876464240068,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion","Social History","Agriculture","Ethnic Heritage-Black"],"significance_levels":["national","state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Belmead is a Gothic Revival villa near Powhatan, Virginia, begun around 1845 and now part of a 439-acre property used by the Saint Emma Industrial and Agricultural School. It is a two-story stuccoed brick residence with towers and a gabled roof.","why_significant":"The house was designed by the nationally significant Gothic Revival architect Alexander Jackson Davis for Philip St. George Cocke. It is one of the few remaining Gothic-style residences in Virginia and, with Staunton Hill, the only complete expression of the Gothic Villa there. It is also associated with the education of Black southern students under the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament.","narrative":"Belmead is a Gothic Revival villa in Powhatan County, Virginia, begun around 1845 for Philip St. George Cocke, a progressive agronomist and later Confederate brigadier general. Alexander Jackson Davis designed the two-story stuccoed brick house, which has a gable roof, stepped gable ends, clustered chimney stacks, and square towers with Tudor-arched openings and crenellations. Inside, tall double doors, coffered ceilings and marble mantels repeat the Tudor arch. Davis adapted a Northern style into a more open design suited to Southern living, and Belmead and Staunton Hill are the state's only major examples of it. After several changes of ownership, the estate was bought in the 1890s by Edward and Louise Morrell of Philadelphia, who conveyed it in 1897 to the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. They founded a school for Indians and Black students there. The house still serves as the center of the school, with additions and superficial interior changes.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific date 1845)","architect_builder":"Alexander Jackson Davis (architect)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival / Gothic Villa","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as the central portion of a Catholic military school; condition listed as good, with some alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.67344-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/6826/41682652/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000270.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000270/d1a31f01d4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000270/d1a31f01d4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jmabran","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Belmead.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jmabran</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:Belmead.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682652","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belmead_(Powhatan,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15198299"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/powhatan-county/belmead-additional-documentation-69000270/"}