Purcellville White

Purcellville White School 1940

Opening and Closing

Built in 1922 or 1923, with an addition in 1937.

Closed in 1954/55 and consolidated into Loudoun County High School.

Physical and Map Location

329 W. School Street, Purcellville, Va. 20132. Now Loudoun Valley Community Center.

Petitions

Transportation

Walking was a common method of school transportation even before the creation of Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS). It’s believed that students who lived within 3 miles of a school could walk from their home to school. The figure at https://edwinwashingtonproject.org/s/ewp/item/31241 shows the location of the school with a circle representing the area from which students could have walked, back and forth from their home to the school. Travel by horse was also used and could have extended the travel distance.

History

The auditorium was built in 1937; but not until after many delays.
Plans for the building began in 1920, when the school was proposed as a six-room structure with an auditorium. Unfortunately, costs prevented the construction of the auditorium.
In 1929, the question of an auditorium came up again before the School Board; but instead of building the addition that year, the School Board instead built auditoriums in Hillsboro, Lucketts and Round Hill.
1931 was when the auditorium was to be constructed; instead a new school was built in Mountville. Additionally, financial constraints of the depression delayed the auditorium.
In march, 1936, Oscar Emerick made a plea for an auditorium, citing the history of delays. His argument was that leading experts felt auditoriums were an essential tool to permit children to properly learn dramatic and forensic skills. He also saw the addition as an excellent place for physical training and school activities, “here parents, teachers and children may gather for manifold purposes.”
Emerick also saw the auditorium as a place for public meetings, especially important since Purcellville had no publicly owned hall or auditorium. He then noted that the School Board provided a publicly owned place of meeting in every other town of Loudoun County with as many as three teachers in their elementary school. He was talking about white schools of course. There no evidence at this time of equal accommodations made for Blacks.
Finally, Emerick pointed out that Purcellville enrolled 132 pupils and thus the school was nearly as large as any in the county except for Leesburg.
Source of Information. 4.5 Yr. 1924 Purcellville School History

Instructors

Insurance and Physical Description

See also history.

was a one story and basement detached, frame stucco building with composition roof on concrete foundation. The school had seven class rooms, according to some sources, an auditorium and small library on the main floor and four additional classrooms in the basement. It was lit with electricity and heated by a low pressure steam heating plant. The main portion was approximately 103.5′ 64′. The auditorium was approximately 68′ x 47.5′ and another addition was approximately 41.5′ by 32.5′. In 1940, the building was in good condition and insured for $25,000.

Other sources indicate that the school in 1922 was a six room frame structure, costing $21,000. An addition occurred in 1936 of one room, costing $11,000.

Additional Photos & PDF's

1928 White Purcellville Addition