{"nrhp_refnum":"88002832","name":"Grimes School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Hege Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lexington","county":"Davidson County","state":"NC","lat":35.83339608500006,"lon":-80.25586147099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-12-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick school building in Neo-Colonial Georgian style on Hege Drive in Lexington, Davidson County, North Carolina, completed in 1936 as the North Ward school. It is T-shaped in plan, with an auditorium forming the stem of the T.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is locally significant for its role in the 1920s and 1930s school-building program in Lexington, being the last school built in that program. It is also significant as a state-of-the-art design by William Roy Vallace, and as one of only two pre-World War II brick schools in Lexington still standing. The building retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1935-1936 as a two-story brick school in Neo-Colonial Georgian style, the building stands on Hege Drive in Lexington and was designed by Winston-Salem architect William Roy Vallace. Its T-shaped plan gave each classroom generous light through large nine-over-nine sash windows, and the front entry features a broken pediment, Ionic columns, and an octagonal cupola. Funded by county bonds and a Public Works Administration grant, it opened in November 1936 with fourteen classrooms and an auditorium seating an estimated 500 to 600. It is regarded as the last school built in Lexington's 1920s and 1930s building program, which served local students for a generation. The school retains original hardwood floors, wood window sash, and metal exterior doors, giving it a high degree of integrity. Its architectural importance rests on its modern design for the period and on its status as one of two surviving pre-war brick schools in the town.","period_of_significance":"1936-1938","architect_builder":"William Roy Vallace (architect); Ward and Thomason of Lexington (contractors)","architectural_style":"Neo-Colonial Georgian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Abandoned by the Lexington School Board in 1982, sold in 1988, and being converted for adaptive re-use as elderly housing.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.062374-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/7199/47719961/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/88002832.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002832/af1f626816-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002832/af1f626816-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Kenneth C. Zirkel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grimes_School,_Lexington,_North_Carolina.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenneth C. Zirkel</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:Grimes_School,_Lexington,_North_Carolina.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"07000350","name":"Lexington Residential Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/lexington-residential-historic-district-07000350/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719961","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18330963"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/davidson-county/grimes-school-88002832/"}