089-0247 Stafford Training School

For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF

VLR Listing Date 12/13/2012

NRHP Listing Date 02/05/2013

NRHP Reference Number 12001272

The Stafford Training School was built in 1939 during the Great Depression by the Public Works Administration after local African American citizens formed a “county league” to donate money to purchase the land for the school, the only black high school in Stafford County during segregation. It is the most significant site in Stafford County and in the Fredericksburg area to interpret the struggle for the de-segregation of Virginia’s public school system. In 1960 students from the school were the first in the area to try integrating all-white Stafford County High School. That attempt failed, but it was followed successfully in 1961 and 1962. The Stafford Training School building, used continually since 1939, was restored in 2005, and at the time of listing in the registers, the property retained a circa-1940 baseball field.

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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

Updated: March 20, 2023