{"nrhp_refnum":"81000648","name":"Academy Street School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Academy St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem (Independent City)","county":"Salem","state":"VA","lat":37.29344615200006,"lon":-80.06132176099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-10-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A public school complex on Academy Street in Salem, Virginia, made up of a brick school built in 1890 and a brick annex built about 1903, joined by a mid-20th-century hyphen, with a small rear power plant.","why_significant":"It is presented as a monument to early public school education in southwestern Virginia and as an architectural landmark in Salem. The 1890 school replaced an earlier female academy after state funding for schools increased and the Norfolk and Western Railroad brought a building boom. Its Victorian design, with decorative brickwork, bracketed cornices and an entrance tower, contrasted with earlier one-room wooden schoolhouses.","narrative":"Academy Street School is a two-building public school complex in the center of Salem, Virginia. The main building dates from 1890 and a brick annex was added around 1903. A plain connecting hyphen was added in the mid-20th century, and a small power plant stands behind. The 1890 building has Flemish-bond brick walls, pilaster strips, recessed brick panels, bracketed cornices and a projecting three-story entrance tower. Inside, both buildings keep closed-string stairs, matchboard wainscot, blackboards, cast-iron heating grates and hardwood floors. The annex has unusual folding doors between second-floor classrooms. The school was built on the site of a pre-Civil War private academy for girls, after the local school board borrowed $6,000 in 1887. Its construction followed increased state school funding and the railroad-driven growth of the Roanoke Valley. Spacious, steam-heated classrooms set it apart from earlier one-room schoolhouses. It served pupils until 1977, when it was abandoned, and restoration was then being planned.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900- (specific dates 1890; ca. 1903)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"The school was abandoned in 1977 for newer quarters. Its openings are covered with plywood, and the Salem Historical Society was planning a restoration.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.170478-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/6835/41683564/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/81000648.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000648/e38f39219a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000648/e38f39219a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cdenas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AcademyStSchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cdenas</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:AcademyStSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683564","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Street_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16157922"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/salem/academy-street-school-81000648/"}