According to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources the Commonwealth’s Board of Historic Resources approved 10 properties for designation on the Virginia Landmarks Register during its quarterly public meeting in September.
The two sites in our area include Parry McCluer High School in the City of Buena Vista and the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company in Danville.
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According to the DHR, Parry McCluer High School served as the principal public school for White students in the City of Buena Vista beginning in 1924. The school opened to Black students in the mid-1960s after integration at Virginia’s public schools. The school library operated as the Buena Vista Public Library from 1948 to circa 1971. Constructed in the Classical Revival architectural style with Modernist additions, the building remains in use as the Parry McCluer Middle School and school board offices.n use as the Parry McCluer Middle School and school board offices.
The DHR also said the following about the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, Built in 1936-1939 by the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company, one of the oldest tobacco companies in the nation, the P. Lorillard Tobacco Company Warehouse Complex played an important role in the industrial history of the City of Danville, where tobacco storage and cigarette manufacturing served as a major economic catalyst starting in the late 19th century. In 1974, after a rise in crop-destroying beetles and moths, the company renovated the complex to change the warehouse storage system from an “open-type” to a “closed-type”. The tobacco industry continues to contribute to Danville’s economy today.
DHR will forward the documentation for the newly listed VLRsites to the National Park Service for nomination to the NRHP. Listing a property in the state or national registers is honorary and sets no restrictions on what owners may do with their property.