Tacoma School was based on Plan No. 4 of Barrett and Thompson’s plans for North Carolina schoolhouses. Built in the coal-rich area of Wise County in 1922, the school is the sole-surviving legacy of the once promising coal-mining town of Tacoma. The present school was rebuilt after a 1936 fire damaged the building. Converted into a community center, the building retains its school-like character with original large classroom spaces, wainscoting, paneled doors and transoms, as well as fine original tongue-and-groove wooden floors.