Our Clarke
Neighbors gave labor and money to the schoolhouse that went up in 1882. It was moved from its Josephine Street lot in 1930, taught home economics until 1971, and was renovated in 2002 as the Josephine School Community Museum, which opened its first exhibit on July 12, 2003.
A sign outside the former Josephine City School, photographed in April 2013.
What this image does and does not showA photograph of a sign, not of the school building. The sign's text is legible here, but it has not been checked against the sources for this page, and nothing on this page rests on it.
Photograph by Cecouchman, April 26, 2013, via Wikimedia Commons. Licensed CC BY-SA 3.0. Rights Changes: Scaled from 2971 by 1981 pixels down to 1600 by 1067 and re-encoded as JPEG, with the camera metadata dropped. Nothing cropped, retouched or added.
A schoolhouse the community built, moved, converted, and — more than a century later — turned into a museum of itself.
In 1882 the schoolhouse went up on Josephine Street. The state's historic-resources record credits local contributions of labor and money as the way it was built1 — not a state-funded building, in other words, but a neighborhood one. Twelve years after the community bought the land, the community also built the school. The building is on the state's books twice over for the same fabric: as 168-5027, listed individually in 1995, and again as 168-5029-0049 when the district around it was nominated twenty years later2. The building is on the state's books twice over for the same fabric: as 168-5027, listed individually in 1995, and again as 168-5029-0049 when the district around it was nominated twenty years later2.
Around 1930 the building was moved. Not far — the 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination places it about a hundred feet south of its original Josephine Street lot1. The move happened when the Clarke County School Board authorized the purchase of land directly south for what the record calls a "colored high school"; the plan noted at the time was to convert the old 1882 building into a home-economics and agricultural shop2. The intent is on paper; the school-board minute for the action has not been retrieved. The intention matched what happened next3: the original building housed the district's home-economics function into the 1970s.
In 1971 the 1882 building stopped being used for education altogether1. It stood empty for about thirty years — the record does not describe those decades — and in 2002 was completely renovated to serve as the Josephine School Community Museum. The museum dated its inaugural exhibit to July 12, 20032.
Four lives for one building: the schoolhouse the community built (1882–1930), the home-economics shop for a segregated high school (1930–1971), a period of disuse (1971–2002), the museum of its own history (2003 to now).
The 1882 founding and the 2003 museum opening are the two poles of a hundred-and-twenty-one-year story. What is missing is what happened INSIDE the building in any of its four lives — the teachers, the students, the shop instructors, the museum's founders. Every one of those groups had names. None are in the collection yet.
DHR dates the Josephine City School to 1882 and describes local contributions of labor and money.
The school's date and community funding are supported by the institutional account.
School-board and building records remain separate retrieval targets.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: First historical paragraph
Relevant passageThe building was erected with contributions of labor and money from the local black citizenry
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The 1995 National Register nomination for the Josephine City School says the school was built around 1882, was used as an elementary school until 1930, and was then moved a short distance from its original location. The nomination is filed under Virginia Department of Historic Resources number 168-5027, and the 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination carries the same building as resource 168-5029-0049.
That the county's two National Register filings agree on the building's date, its use as an elementary school to 1930 and its move, and that the building holds two department numbers because it is listed individually and again as a contributing resource in the district.
The nomination hedges the construction date as 'around 1882' and this record keeps that hedge. Neither filing was read in its signed paper form; both were read as extracted text from the department's PDFs. The 2015 district form is not independent of the 1995 form. Nothing is recorded here about who taught in the school, who built it or who paid for it.
Evidence role: supports. The 1995 nomination's own summary of the building's date, use and move.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 1995 (publication)
Locator: Section 8, statement of significance
Relevant passageBuilt around 1882, Josephine City School was used as an elementary school until 1930, when it was moved a short distance from its original location
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: contextualizes. The 2015 district form, which carries the school as resource 168-5029-0049 alongside the 1930 training school.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2015 (publication)
Locator: Section 7, summary description of contributing resources
Relevant passagethe 1930 former Clarke County Training School (168-5029-0048), later known as Johnson-Williams High School and now used as low-income elderly housing
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-21. How this project checks its sources
The 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination states that the 1882 schoolhouse was moved from its original Josephine Street location to its current one, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930.
The nomination's account of the move, with the distance it gives; consistent with the 1930 move already recorded from the school's own register entry.
This is the nomination author's narrative. "Ca. 1930" is the source's own approximation and is kept; no school-board minute or deed for the move was inspected.
Evidence role: supports. The nomination's statement of the move and its distance, given twice in the document.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 9, Section 7 summary; repeated at PDF page 23, inventory entry for 303 Josephine Street. Same statement at page 23: "The building was constructed in 1882 and was moved from its original location to its current location, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930."
Relevant passageIt was moved from its original location on Josephine Street to its current one, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The nomination states that when the Clarke County School Board authorised the purchase of land directly south of the existing school for a "colored high school", the plan was that the old school would be converted into a home-economics and agricultural shop.
What the nomination says the old building was to become once the new school was built: a home-economics and agricultural shop, not simply "home economics".
The nomination cites a footnote for the board action that this project has not followed to a minute. The sentence states an intended conversion; the later paragraph confirms the building became a home-economics classroom after the move.
Evidence role: supports. The intended conversion, as the nomination recounts the board's plan.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 35, Section 8, on the School Board's authorisation of land south of the existing school
Relevant passageThe old school would be converted into a home-economics and agricultural shop.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
DHR says the original school was moved in 1930 and used for home economics until 1971.
The old school's change of use is distinguished from construction of a later school.
This is not a claim that all later educational buildings were the same structure.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: Second historical paragraph, move and change of use
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The nomination states that the 1882 building ceased being used for educational purposes in 1971 and was completely renovated in 2002 to serve as the Josephine School Community Museum.
The end of the building's educational use and the year of its renovation for the museum, from the district nomination. The 1971 date agrees with the school's register entry.
A statement about the building. It does not establish when the museum organisation was founded, who carried out the renovation, or its cost. The museum organisation and the building remain separate records here.
Evidence role: supports. The 1971 end of educational use and the 2002 renovation, in one sentence of the nomination.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 9, Section 7 summary. The same paragraph records a side restroom wing added in 1961.
Relevant passageThe building ceased being used for educational purposes in 1971 and was completely renovated in 2002 to serve its current function as the Josephine School Community Museum.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The museum dates its inaugural exhibit to July 12, 2003.
A specific milestone from the institution's own history.
It does not establish present opening hours or public access.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Josephine School Community Museum
Locator: Final paragraph, inaugural museum exhibit
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: jschool-history. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
DHR dates the Josephine City School to 1882 and describes local contributions of labor and money.
DHR dates the Josephine City School to 1882 and describes local contributions of labor and money.
The school's date and community funding are supported by the institutional account.
School-board and building records remain separate retrieval targets.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: First historical paragraph
Relevant passageThe building was erected with contributions of labor and money from the local black citizenry
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
DHR says the original school was moved in 1930 and used for home economics until 1971.
DHR says the original school was moved in 1930 and used for home economics until 1971.
The old school's change of use is distinguished from construction of a later school.
This is not a claim that all later educational buildings were the same structure.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2024-02-17 (last update)
Locator: Second historical paragraph, move and change of use
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-josephine. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The museum dates its inaugural exhibit to July 12, 2003.
The museum dates its inaugural exhibit to July 12, 2003.
A specific milestone from the institution's own history.
It does not establish present opening hours or public access.
Evidence role: supports. Supports the claim at the stated source level; see limits.
Josephine School Community Museum
Locator: Final paragraph, inaugural museum exhibit
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: jschool-history. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check · 2026-09-08. How this project checks its sources
The 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination states that the 1882 schoolhouse was moved from its original Josephine Street location to its current one, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930.
The 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination states that the 1882 schoolhouse was moved from its original Josephine Street location to its current one, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930.
The nomination's account of the move, with the distance it gives; consistent with the 1930 move already recorded from the school's own register entry.
This is the nomination author's narrative. "Ca. 1930" is the source's own approximation and is kept; no school-board minute or deed for the move was inspected.
Evidence role: supports. The nomination's statement of the move and its distance, given twice in the document.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 9, Section 7 summary; repeated at PDF page 23, inventory entry for 303 Josephine Street. Same statement at page 23: "The building was constructed in 1882 and was moved from its original location to its current location, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930."
Relevant passageIt was moved from its original location on Josephine Street to its current one, around 100 feet south, ca. 1930.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The nomination states that when the Clarke County School Board authorised the purchase of land directly south of the existing school for a "colored high school", the plan was that the old school would be converted into a home-economics and agricultural shop.
The nomination states that when the Clarke County School Board authorised the purchase of land directly south of the existing school for a "colored high school", the plan was that the old school would be converted into a home-economics and agricultural shop.
What the nomination says the old building was to become once the new school was built: a home-economics and agricultural shop, not simply "home economics".
The nomination cites a footnote for the board action that this project has not followed to a minute. The sentence states an intended conversion; the later paragraph confirms the building became a home-economics classroom after the move.
Evidence role: supports. The intended conversion, as the nomination recounts the board's plan.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 35, Section 8, on the School Board's authorisation of land south of the existing school
Relevant passageThe old school would be converted into a home-economics and agricultural shop.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The nomination states that the 1882 building ceased being used for educational purposes in 1971 and was completely renovated in 2002 to serve as the Josephine School Community Museum.
The nomination states that the 1882 building ceased being used for educational purposes in 1971 and was completely renovated in 2002 to serve as the Josephine School Community Museum.
The end of the building's educational use and the year of its renovation for the museum, from the district nomination. The 1971 date agrees with the school's register entry.
A statement about the building. It does not establish when the museum organisation was founded, who carried out the renovation, or its cost. The museum organisation and the building remain separate records here.
Evidence role: supports. The 1971 end of educational use and the 2002 renovation, in one sentence of the nomination.
Maral S. Kalbian and Margaret T. Peters (Maral S. Kalbian, LLC) · 2014-12-01 (creation)
Locator: PDF page 9, Section 7 summary. The same paragraph records a side restroom wing added in 1961.
Relevant passageThe building ceased being used for educational purposes in 1971 and was completely renovated in 2002 to serve its current function as the Josephine School Community Museum.
Checked: Original inspected. A digital reproduction was inspected; no original has been handled.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Fable 5.1) · 2026-09-10. How this project checks its sources
The 1995 National Register nomination for the Josephine City School says the school was built around 1882, was used as an elementary school until 1930, and was then moved a short distance from its original location. The nomination is filed under Virginia Department of Historic Resources number 168-5027, and the 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination carries the same building as resource 168-5029-0049.
The 1995 National Register nomination for the Josephine City School says the school was built around 1882, was used as an elementary school until 1930, and was then moved a short distance from its original location. The nomination is filed under Virginia Department of Historic Resources number 168-5027, and the 2015 Josephine City Historic District nomination carries the same building as resource 168-5029-0049.
That the county's two National Register filings agree on the building's date, its use as an elementary school to 1930 and its move, and that the building holds two department numbers because it is listed individually and again as a contributing resource in the district.
The nomination hedges the construction date as 'around 1882' and this record keeps that hedge. Neither filing was read in its signed paper form; both were read as extracted text from the department's PDFs. The 2015 district form is not independent of the 1995 form. Nothing is recorded here about who taught in the school, who built it or who paid for it.
Evidence role: supports. The 1995 nomination's own summary of the building's date, use and move.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 1995 (publication)
Locator: Section 8, statement of significance
Relevant passageBuilt around 1882, Josephine City School was used as an elementary school until 1930, when it was moved a short distance from its original location
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
Evidence role: contextualizes. The 2015 district form, which carries the school as resource 168-5029-0049 alongside the 1930 training school.
Virginia Department of Historic Resources · 2015 (publication)
Locator: Section 7, summary description of contributing resources
Relevant passagethe 1930 former Clarke County Training School (168-5029-0048), later known as Johnson-Williams High School and now used as low-income elderly housing
Checked: Page text reviewed. Original image not independently inspected.
Open sourceSource family: dhr-nominations. Multiple passages from one source are not independent witnesses.
AI-assisted source check (Claude Opus 5) · 2026-09-21. How this project checks its sources
See a related record at the Clarke County Historical Association
Also indexed as: Josephine School Community Museum.
Know something about this place or record? Help fill a gap. It stays private until it is reviewed.
In 1870, twenty-four formerly enslaved African Americans purchased the land that became Josephine City. Their community went on to build a school through local contributions of labor and money.
What the evidence says Founding documented. Naming account qualified.
