Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/18/2008
NRHP Listing Date 03/06/2009
NRHP Reference Number 09000123
Wise County’s Flat Gap High School building, which no longer functions as an educational facility, is an important vestige of the educational and social history of the Flat Gap community and the architectural history of the region. The school building was designed in a classically derived but rustic architectural style and constructed in 1935-36, making it among the earliest purpose-built high schools in the county. The new school replaced a prior Flat Gap high school, located about two miles from the new school’s site, that had been a makeshift facility consisting of three one-room buildings used for classrooms. Beyond its educational service, the newer school, as the only public building in the area, provided a social and civic center to the Flat Gap community for several generations. Beginning in 1945, high school students were sent ten miles distant to Pound and the Flat Gap building thereafter served elementary students, grades 1-7, until it closed as a school in 1961.
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 12, 2022
