Virginia has designated 10 new historic landmarks across the state, including buildings in Buena Vista and Danville.
In Buena Vista, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources has added the original Parry McCluer High School to the Virginia Landmarks Register. The building was constructed in 1924 in the Classical Revival architectural style with Modernist additions and remains in use as the Parry McCluer Middle School and school board offices.
In Danville, the department added the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company Warehouse Complex, which was built in 1936-1939 and played an important role in the industrial history of the city. In 1974, after a rise in crop-destroying beetles and moths, the company renovated the complex to change the warehouse storage system from an “open-type” to a “closed-type.”
Other sites added to the list are:
Dinwiddie County: Rocky Branch School was the school for Black children in the Sutherland community. First built circa 1913, the school housed a single classroom with one teacher for all grades. In 1928, Rocky Branch expanded to include a second classroom.
Fairfax County: The William H. Randall Estates Historic District is a 20-acre Black residential subdivision created based on the vision of Jube Shiver Sr., an African American teacher who sought to develop a neighborhood for professional, middle-class Black families after he and his family had trouble finding a home during Virginia’s Jim Crow era. According to the department, “the development of Randall Estates, an initiative led by Shiver, is representative of the Black community’s self-determination and resilience in the face of discrimination and oppression.”
Henrico County: Woodland Cemetery was established as a resting place for Black citizens in Henrico and Richmond during the segregation era. Founded by Richmond Planet editor John Mitchell Jr., the cemetery opened in 1917 and, according to the department, “quickly became a symbol of the Black community’s resistance against segregation and discrimination.” Arthur Ashe and Zenobia Gilpin are among the well-known individuals buried at Woodland.
King William County: Bear Garden is a one-story, Federal-style house that was constructed in three phases starting circa 1796 through the turn of the 20th century. It is considered representative of the Tidewater-region homes built after the Revolutionary War.
Louisa County: The Bridge Hope Baptist Church and Cemetery was established by the community of freedmen and freedwomen in 1882.
Newport News: The three-story Daily Press Building was completed in 1968 to house all of the expanding newspaper’s operations, including offices for staff as well as the paper’s printing and distribution headquarters. The building was designed in the New Formalist architectural style by Forrest W. Coile, a prolific Newport News architect whose career produced hundreds of commercial, educational and institutional buildings from the 1930s through the 1970s.
Norfolk: Constructed from 1968 to 1972, the Norfolk Cultural and Convention Center “exemplifies the height of the Modern Movement in architecture and urban planning in the mid-20th century,” according to the department. The Center encompasses several city blocks and includes the Scope arena and Chrysler Hall.
Shenandoah County: The Wine House, located between Forestville and Quicksburg, was built in 1815 as a two-story log dwelling atop a limestone foundation. According to the department, “the house features a layout and construction methods unique to the architectural heritage of Shenandoah County and the surrounding areas. The addition of a one-and-a-half story ell in circa 1870 demonstrates the evolution of architecture and building practices in response to economic and social changes experienced by the property owners in the Shenandoah Valley.”