Nomination Form
Built from 1952-1953, James A. Bland High School in the Wise County town of Big Stone Gap provided education for Black students from 1954 to 1965. The school reflected the efforts of African Americans in southwest Virginia to educate their children despite the challenges of systemic racism and discrimination during segregation in Virginia’s public schools. Bland High School is also associated with the Black educator Cato H. Shorter, who worked in the school system for many years before serving as principal of the school throughout its years of operation. Bland High School closed in 1965 after the county continued efforts to resist integration of its public schools. The school reopened as the integrated Big Stone Gap Elementary School in 1969. In 1987, the property was adapted into use as the Big Stone Gap Town Hall.
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
