Schools

Pictures of Mecklenburg Schools 1920-1940

Photo credits: Library of Virginia Digital Collections Discovery

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Rosenwald Schools

Julius Rosenwald partnered with Booker T. Washington to build schools for African American children during segregation. Mecklenburg had 17 Rosenwald schools, 3 of which were in Palmers Springs.

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Mecklenburg Schools in the newspapers 1830-1956

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Schools no longer in use

photo credit: Julie & Aaron Cabitto 2020-2024

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About unknown school names

I found some schools in deeds and plats that don’t give the name of the school. Here’s two examples:

This shows the plat facing north, with Allen’s Creek on the west & a public road on the east leading to Antlers, a mile & a half away.

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Names of Schools in Mecklenburg, Virginia

Do you know a school listed here? Or can you fill in any blanks in this table? Please comment below.

name of school	numbered area	race during segregation	years in operation	deed book reference	still standing?
1. Averette School	area 26	African American			yes
2. Blackridge	area 16	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1929		no
3. Bluestone High School	area 18	white			yes
4. Boydton Academic & Bible Institute	area 19	African American
5. Boydton Female Seminary	area 19
6. Boydton High School	area 19				yes
7. Bracey School	area 23	white			yes
8. Buckhorn High School	area 3?		referenced in 1939 & 1947 newspapers
9. Buffalo Springs School	area 24?		referenced in newspaper 1940
10. Busy Bee Corner Elementary	area 12?		referenced in newspaper 1963
11. Canaan School	area 16	white			no
12. Carroll-Boyd School	area 23	African American (Rosenwald)			yes
13. Cavalry	??	African American (Rosenwald)			no
14. Cedar Grove School	Clarksville area		referenced in newspaper 1940
15. Chase City Elementary	area 10
16. Chase City High School	area 10	white			yes
17. Christianville Academy	area 10		1829-	Mecklenburg Deed Book 23, page 471
18. Hillcrest Elementary __________ Clarksville Elementary	area 27	African American while Hillcrest
19. Clarksville Middle	area 27
20.Clarksville High School	area 27				yes
21. Clarksville Female Academy	area 27			Mecklenburg 1837 Deed Book 27, page 322
22. Cook	area 5	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1929		no
23. Cotton Creek	area 22	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1927, referenced in newspaper 1939		yes
24. East End High School _________ Park View Middle	area 14	African American	1970-2022 middle school		no
25. Easter’s School	area 12?	African American	On 1912 deed reference
26. Effort School	South Hill district		referenced in newspaper 1940
27. Finchley (Liberty School)	area 18	African American (Rosenwald)			no
28. Finneywood	area 1	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1926		no
29. Frog Pond School	area 23		(on 1910 plat)
30. Great Creek Presbyterian School	area 23	African American
31. Hite School	area 26
32. Island Hill	area 29?	African American	referenced in newspaper 1939
33. John Groom Elementary School (also called South Hill Negro Elementary)	area 5	African American	built 1949
34. La Crosse Elementary	area 7				yes
35. La Crosse High School	area 7		referenced in newspaper 1939
36. Love	area 19	African American (Rosenwald)			yes
37. Mecklenburg County Middle	area 12
38. Mecklenburg County Middle and High School (new)	area 12		2023-present		yes
39. Mecklenburg County Training High School	area 5	African American (Rosenwald)
40. M. M. Booker School	area 15?	African American	referenced in newspaper 1939 & 1940
41. Mooresville Elementary	Clarksville area				no
42. Mount Airy School	area 27, Clarksville area		referenced in newspaper 1940
43. Mount Vernon	area 16	African American	referenced in newspaper 1939 & 1940
44. Nelson School	area 26	white	referenced in newspaper 1939 & 1940
45. North View	area 4	African American (Rosenwald)	1924-abt 1960		yes
46. North View High School	area 4	white	1907
47. NV Boyd School	area 15, (Marengo Rd)	African American	picture on Virgina preservation website		yes, collapsing
48. Oakley School	(Bluestone district)		referenced in newspaper 1940
49. Palmer Springs High School	area 22		referenced in newspaper 1939
50. Park View High School	area 14	white
51. Phillis School	area 19, Boydton district		referenced in newspaper 1940
52. Piney Grove	area 11	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1926		no
53. Plank Rd	area 6	African American (Rosenwald)			yes
54. Randolph Macon College __________ Boydton Institute	area 19		1830s-1860s college (white) Boydton Institute until 1916 for African Americans	–Deed Book 24, pages: 194, 299, 450 –Deed Book 25, page 185 –Deed Book 26, page 217	yes ruins
55. Roanoke	area 22	African American (Rosenwald)			yes
56. Rocky Mount	area 18	African American (Rosenwald)	1926-abt 1960
57. Saint John’s School	area 25	African American (Rosenwald)	referenced in newspaper 1939
58. Saint Mark’s School	area 23
59. Shiloh	area 20	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1924		yes
60. Smith Crossroads	area 14	African American	referenced in newspaper 1939
61. South Hill Elementary School	area 5
62. South Hill School	area 5?		1811	Mecklenburg Deed Book 14, page 459
63. South Hill High School	area 5		referenced in newspaper 1940
64. Southside School	area 22		on 1960s topo map
65. Sunnyside boarding school	area 27	white women	1870-1908		yes
66. Thyne Institute	area 10	African American
67. Trotting Ridge School	area 28?, Bluestone district		referenced in newspaper 1940
68. Union Level Female Seminary	area 13	white	referenced in newspaper 1839
69. Union Level School	area 13
70. West End High School	area 27	African American			Original in Clarksville 8th & Old Caroline St, fire early 1950’s. Second School became Bluestone Middle.
71. Whittles Grove	area 5	African American (Rosenwald)	built 1925, referenced in newspaper 1939		yes
72. Wightman	area 3	African American	referenced in newspaper 1939
73. Writtenberry School	area 23
74. unknown name, on border of OH Tanner & Lewis Pothress farms	area 15		1845 processioner’s report
75. unknown name, Nellie Jones Rd by Great Creek, Jimmy Kidd farm	area 23		1891 deed Jimmy Kidd land, by Great Creek & Nellie Jones Rd.
76. unknown name, RJ Montgomery Farm, by JN Perkinson & TL Walker	area 7		1919 plat
77. unknown name, near Antlers, Sam Callahan farm	area 20		1920 plat
78. unknown name, Old Rehoboth Church	area 23		1880’s, referenced on deeds about the church being bought & used as a school
79. unknown name, on Sullivan Rd. by Fields PO	area 28		1913 plat

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Picture at the top of the page: schools marked on the 1950 Census Enumeration map. Green circles were African American schools.