The site of the Rosenwald-funded Buckingham Training School, in the Buckingham County town of Dillwyn, was constructed during Virginia’s era of racial segregation. Known today as Stephen J. Ellis Memorial Park, the site is significant for its direct association with the efforts of local African Americans to obtain education during the segregation era. From 1924 to 1954, the now-demolished training school functioned as the only high school for Blacks in Buckingham County. Emphasizing training, the school instructed male students in skilled trades, while female students learned homemaking, cooking, and child rearing skills. The property notably features a standing affiliated shop building, built in 1932 and one of only 11 Rosenwald-funded shops constructed in Virginia. Within these shops, male students were trained in agriculture and skilled trades. The Buckingham Training School closed in 1954, when a new, segregated Carter G. Woodson High School opened. Soon afterwards, the training school re-opened as Steven J. Ellis Elementary School, which closed in 1964.
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
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia