Nomination Form
Constructed in 1922 and one of seven Rosenwald schools built in Albemarle County, St. John School served African American students in the Cobham and Gordonsville area from its opening in 1923 until it closed in 1954. The school exemplifies the Rosenwald T-shape “Floor Plan No. 20,” a two-room, two-teacher school designed by architect Samuel L. Smith, who served as director of the Rosenwald Fund starting in 1920. The fund contributed $700 and the plan for the St. John School, with the local African American community providing $400, and the white community, $100. The Albemarle County school board matched these donations with another $1,200. Today, the well-preserved St. John School retains most of its historic fabric amid its rural setting.
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
