Woodville School
Also known as: 036-5045
Why it's listed
Woodville School is a one-story, wood-frame schoolhouse on a one-acre lot beside U.S. Route 17 in Gloucester County, Virginia. Built in 1923 to a Rosenwald Fund community school plan, it measures about 63.5 by 28.5 feet, with white clapboard siding, tall windows facing east and west for classroom light, and an enclosed front porch. Of the $3,500 construction cost, the local African American community provided $2,500, the Rosenwald Fund $700 and the county $300. The school board sold the building in 1942, and it was converted to a house, with interior rooms subdivided and a kitchen added. Original floors, doors and vertical wainscoting survive. Two outbuildings, a small building that may have been a teacher's house or guesthouse and a shed, also contribute. The property was listed for its link to rural Black education and the Rosenwald program, and as the county's best-preserved early 20th-century African American school. The form lists its current use as vacant.
Significance in brief: The school represents the effort of a rural African American community and the Rosenwald Fund to provide quality education for Black children in the early 20th century. It is described as Gloucester County's only well-preserved early 20th-century African American school building. It is nominated under Criterion A.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 04000042, listed February 11, 2004. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 4310 George Washington Mermorial Highway, Ordinary |
|---|---|
| County | Gloucester County |
| Listed | February 11, 2004 |
| Reference number | 04000042 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1923 - 1942 |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and 20th century Revivals |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Education, Black |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current function is listed as vacant/not in use; the building was converted to a residence after 1942. |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 37.32500, -76.51503 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 04000042.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14713567
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.