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.