{"nrhp_refnum":"86002582","name":"Victoria Colored School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"702 E. Convent","address_restricted":false,"city":"Victoria","county":"Victoria County","state":"TX","lat":28.79383654000003,"lon":-97.00119564099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick former school building at 702 E. Convent in Victoria, Texas, built in 1901 to a design by Jules Leffland and constructed by contractor Bailey Mills.","why_significant":"It is significant in the area of education as the 'Colored High School' built by the newly formed Victoria Independent School District. F.W. Gross, a prominent local Black educator, served as first principal over eight teachers. It later became Gross School and served Black high school students until a new Gross School opened in 1938. The form recommends acceptance under Criterion A.","narrative":"Built in 1901 at 702 E. Convent in Victoria, Texas, this two-story brick building was designed by Jules Leffland and constructed by local contractor Bailey Mills for the newly formed Victoria Independent School District. It opened as the Colored High School, with F.W. Gross, a prominent local Black educator, as first principal over a faculty of eight teachers. In 1923 the school was renamed Gross School, and Black students attended high school here until a new Gross School was completed in 1938. The T-plan building has a hip roof with gables, a symmetrical three-bay south facade with a projecting center bay, carved bargeboard, segmental-arched windows with brick hood molds, and a soldier brick course dividing the two floors. Upstairs, moldings, stairs, flooring and plaster walls remain intact. One-story additions fill the northeast and northwest ells, and the building now has commercial use. Its importance lies in its role in the education of Victoria's Black community.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Jules Leffland (architect); Bailey Mills (contractor)","architectural_style":"Victorian details; T-plan","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Condition listed as good, with 1-story additions in the northeast and northwest ells and most windows boarded over. Original use was public education; present use is commercial.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:20.918265-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/9705/40970580/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/86002582.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002582/baede7bf5c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002582/baede7bf5c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Victoria_Colored_School,_Victoria,_Texas.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:Victoria_Colored_School,_Victoria,_Texas.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970580","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Colored_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14711395"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/victoria-county/victoria-colored-school-86002582/"}