Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/21/2017
NRHP Listing Date 02/13/2018
NRHP Reference Number SG100002138
The John Groom Elementary School in South Hill served as the area’s only public elementary school for African American students from 1950 until 1969, when the county desegregated its schools. The school honors John Groom, whose $10,000 bequest subsidized a portion of the construction of the building’s combined auditorium-cafeteria. After desegregation, the building became South Hill Primary School, housing grades one through three. The product of a statewide mid-20th-century campaign to improve school buildings, the Colonial Revival-style brick school, when completed in 1950, allowed space for many more students. The building exemplifies the Virginia Department of Education’s initiative to supply students with spacious, well-ventilated, and amply lit instructional areas. A Modernist-style classroom wing, added in 1960, features a flat roof and tall multi-pane windows in aluminum frames. In addition to its primary function, the facility served as a community meeting place.
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: February 23, 2021
