{"nrhp_refnum":"80004180","name":"Vawter Hall and Old President's House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Virginia State University campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ettrick","county":"Chesterfield County","state":"VA","lat":37.23462290700007,"lon":-77.41788363999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-05-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two adjacent brick buildings on College Avenue at Virginia State University in Ettrick, Chesterfield County, Virginia: Vawter Hall (1908) and the Old President's House (1907 or 1913, as the form gives both dates), in a modified Queen Anne style.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the two buildings as the oldest institutional buildings of Virginia State University, the oldest state-supported college for Black students in the United States. Together with the now-demolished Johnston Hall and Virginia Hall, they formed the academic and administrative core of the college in the early 20th century. The school's history reflects Black higher education, vocational training and federal programs.","narrative":"Vawter Hall and the Old President's House stand on College Avenue at Virginia State University in Ettrick, Chesterfield County. Both are brick buildings in a modified Queen Anne style. Vawter Hall, finished in 1908, is a three-story, H-plan building with Doric-columned porches, and it housed administration, a bookstore, a cafeteria and theatre activities. The two-and-a-half-story President's House was authorized by the trustees in 1906 and served as the president's residence until the 1930s; both buildings now hold offices. They are the oldest institutional buildings of a college chartered in 1882 as the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, the oldest state-supported college for Black students in the United States. Along with the demolished Johnston Hall and Virginia Hall, they formed the heart of the campus under President James Hugh Johnston, who emphasized vocational training. The school's history shows changing approaches to Black education and its reliance on federal programs through the 20th century.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Modified Queen Anne","criteria":[],"status_note":"Vawter Hall and the former President's House are both used as offices; the house stopped being a residence in the 1930s and is now an office annex. The form marks the property occupied and in educational use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.152331-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/6801/41680172/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/80004180.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004180/fbe5b32758-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004180/fbe5b32758-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jweaver28","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vawter_Hall_at_VSU.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jweaver28</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vawter_Hall_at_VSU.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680172","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vawter_Hall_and_Old_President%27s_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7917533"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/chesterfield-county/vawter-hall-and-old-presidents-house-80004180/"}