{"nrhp_refnum":"89001934","name":"Holley Graded School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"US 360, N of VA 614","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lottsburg","county":"Northumberland County","state":"VA","lat":37.962111865000054,"lon":-76.51913001699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-12-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story frame schoolhouse on a two-acre lot in the village of Lottsburg, Northumberland County, Virginia, built in stages between about 1914 and 1933 for the local black community.","why_significant":"It is argued to be significant under Criterion C for its architecture. It was the largest and most architecturally sophisticated black elementary school in the county, with decorated gables and pressed-metal wall and ceiling sheathing rare in Virginia schools. It also reflects the self-sufficiency of the local black community, which largely funded and built it during segregation.","narrative":"Holley Graded School is a one-story frame schoolhouse in Lottsburg, Northumberland County, Virginia. Built in stages between about 1914 and 1933, it has a cross-shaped plan with four equal classrooms, a central passage and cloakrooms. The exterior shows unusual refinement for a rural school, including patterned wood shingles in the gables, bull's-eye windows, scalloped bargeboards and tall piers of ashlar-faced concrete block. Inside, galvanized pressed-metal sheathing covers the walls and ceilings, and an original cast-iron stove remains. The school replaced an earlier building on land bought in 1869 by abolitionist Sallie Holley for a school for freed people's children. Local black residents supplied most or all of the money and labor, and a board of local trustees took control in 1917. When finished it was the largest and most sophisticated black elementary school in the county. Its design draws on local vernacular building traditions, and it survives with a high degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1914-1939","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Largely unaltered; after nearly three decades of marginal use, it was being restored as a museum and adult-education facility.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.829873-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/6822/41682288/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001934.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001934/3bbfa201cd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001934/3bbfa201cd-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holley_Graded_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holley_Graded_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682288","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holley_Graded_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712559"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/northumberland-county/holley-graded-school-89001934/"}