Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 02/17/1993
NRHP Listing Date 04/29/1993
NRHP Reference Number 93000349
The Blue Ridge School (formerly the Blue Ridge Industrial School) was founded in Greene County in 1910 by the Rev. George P. Mayo as a missionary effort of the Episcopal Church to bring educational opportunities to isolated mountain communities. In 1924 Mayo determined that the school should have a chapel and boldly sought the services of Ralph Adams Cram, the nation’s foremost practitioner of the Gothic style. Cram, best known for such monumental works as the West Point and Princeton university chapels, donated the Blue Ridge chapel design, listed in his log as job #670, 1928. The spare but deft work, executed in native fieldstone, was carried to completion in 1932 under the supervision of Charlottesville architect Stanislaus Makielski. Makielski also designed the adjacent Tudor-style Martha Bagby Battle House, built in 1934 as the headmaster’s residence.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: August 2, 2021
