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Woodville School marker to be unveiled Sept. 1

Gloucester County’s newest state historical marker will be unveiled next week.

A ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 1, to celebrate the unveiling of the highway marker at Woodville School, which is located on Route 17 in Ordinary, across from LightHouse Church.

The marker is designed to educate the public and document the importance of the Woodville School in the history of Virginia and the nation.

The former school building served the county’s African American community from the early 1920s until 1941. In the 1920s, six schools and one teacher home were built in Gloucester County through the leadership of T.C. Walker, in partnership with Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., the African American community, and the local school district’s Board of Trustees.

The Woodville School is the only one of the six Rosenwald schools built in Gloucester still standing. Others were Bethel, Bena-Hayes, Purton, Rising Valley and the Gloucester Training School.

Those wishing to attend the unveiling are asked to gather in the parking lot at First Baptist Church, Ordinary (4213 George Washington Memorial Highway). Vans will shuttle attendees across the highway, courtesy of members of First Baptist Church, the First United Baptist Church, and the Gloucester County Sheriff’s Department.

In case of rain, the event will be held on Thursday, Sept. 2.