RICHMOND (WSLS 10) - A bus station in Petersburg connected with the Civil Rights Movement, an early 20th-century railroad depot in Pittsylvania County, a state park that originated in federal conservation efforts during the 1930s and the site of a British fort in the Chesapeake Bay where escaped slaves were trained as Colonial Marines during the War of 1812 are among six sites added to the Virginia Landmarks Register by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
Chatham Southern Railway Depot - Chatham
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The Chatham Southern Railway Depot, in the Town of Chatham in Pittsylvania County, was erected between 1918 and 1919. The depot is a well-known landmark, owing in part to the importance of the railroad in the post-1850 history of the town and region. As the central transportation hub of Chatham and the surrounding area, the depot played a pivotal role in the area's economic development through the 1950s. Local businesses relied heavily on the railroad as the volume of local production shipped out of the depot grew throughout the first half of the 20th century. The depot served passengers including businessmen, soldiers (particularly during World War II), and the boarding students and faculty of the girls school Chatham Hall, established in 1894, and the all-male Hargrave Military Academy, established in 1909.
The depot is a strong example of the Railroad Style with Colonial Revival influence. After nearly a half century in service, the depot closed to passengers in 1965, although freight service continued until 1975 when the station was retired from railroad use altogether. Since 2001 the depot has been owned by the Pittsylvania County Historical Society. The building is leased by Pittsylvania County, and operated by the County Public Library System for historic research, educational seminars, and civic functions.
Trailways Bus Station - Petersburg
The Trailways Bus Station in downtown Petersburg was the site of civil rights protests and sit-ins that occurred during 1960 and 1961. As one of the stops on the historic Freedom Ride civil rights campaign, the bus station witnessed events that were a critical part of the Civil Rights Movement in Petersburg and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Pocahontas State Park Historic District - Chesterfield County
Originally known as Swift Creek Recreational Demonstration Area (RDA), the district was a project of the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). The historic district encompasses the park's initial acquisition, design, and construction by the CCC through the National Park Service's donation of the park in 1946 to the Commonwealth of Virginia. The Swift Creek RDA was one of just two RDAs developed in Virginia and one of 46 created across the U.S. The RDAs were the brainchild of the National Park Service as part of the larger Federal Emergency Land Relief Program begun in 1934 to address problems in areas of extensive soil erosion and related issues.
Fort Albion - Accomack County
On Accomack County's Tangier Island, a previously-listed historic district for the island has been extended with a boundary increase to include an area, now under water, where the British established Fort Albion in 1814. At Fort Albion self-emancipated African Americans, who had escaped slavery to join British forces, were trained as Colonial Marines in the British navy. Now an underwater archaeological site, Fort Albion was recently designated by the National Park Service as a place on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom due to its direct association with the emancipation of thousands of enslaved African Americans during the War of 1812.
Cornland School - Chesapeake
The Cornland School in the City of Chesapeake is a one-room schoolhouse built in 1903 that served African American students in the Pleasant Grove School District in the former Norfolk County (now part of the City of Chesapeake) during the era of segregation. Cornland replaced a circa-1868 school that stood on the same site. In 1952 the school closed and its students were transferred to a newly-constructed but racially segregated elementary school. The Cornland school building today is one of the oldest one-room schools still standing in Chesapeake and one of the last remaining African-American elementary schools from the days of segregation.
Virginia Industrial Home School for Colored Girls - Hanover County
In Hanover County, the Virginia Industrial Home School for Colored Girls – most recently known as the Barrett Learning Center – arose in 1915 in response to an early 20th-century juvenile reform movement in the U.S., especially for African American girls. The complex was the third such school for black girls in the U.S. and survived its predecessors in Maryland and Missouri. The property is important for its association with Janie Porter Barrett, the first African American woman to head a training school. She advocated a pioneering rehabilitation philosophy that was adopted throughout the U.S. and around the world.
Violet Bank Historic District - Colonial Heights
Another site newly approved for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register by DHR's Board of Historic Resources during its quarterly meeting on June 18 is the Violet Bank Historic District in Colonial Heights. The district has two periods of significance, 1815 and 1908-1956. In 1815, Violet Bank, a Federal-style house, was constructed on a large tract in then-rural Chesterfield County. Suburban development led to the former farm being subdivided, and starting in 1908 development of the Violet Bank neighborhood was under way. By 1956 the final build-out of the district occurred during the post-World War II building boom.
In addition to the expansion of the Tangier Island Historic District, the following three previously-listed historic districts saw boundary increases:
- The Danville Historic District Boundary Increase covers 66 additional architectural resources and extends the story of Danville's era of growth and prosperity when the tobacco and textile industries were thriving. The original and extended district contains a broad spectrum of architectural styles popular in Danville from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century. The period of significance for both the original district and the expansion area begins in 1830, the date of the Lanier House and the Old Grove Street Cemetery, and ends in 1940, when the last major wave of development ended.
- The Downtown Hopewell Historic District boundary extension reflects the city's prolonged period of commercial, industrial, and governmental development from World War I through World War II as well as the emerging importance of the automobile and vehicular traffic during the post-WWII period.
- The Mountain Road Historic District boundary increase extends the original historic district one mile further west along U.S. 360 in the Town of Halifax. The district depicts the gradual evolution of this rural Southside area from large tracts of farmland owned by prominent county leaders in the early 19th century to a mid-20th century community.
All of these listings in the Virginia Landmarks Register will be forwarded to the National Park Service for nomination to the National Register of Historic Places.