Department of Historic Resources
May 12, 2006

Dedication of Highway Marker for Wytheville Training School

RICHMOND, VA -- A new historical highway marker of the Department of Historic Resources will be dedicated to commemorate the Wytheville Training School, which served African Americans in Wythe, Bland, Carroll, and Grayson counties from 1882 to 1951.

The public dedication will take place on Tuesday, May 16, at 1 p.m., at the marker’s location on the northeast corner of Fifth and Franklin streets in Wytheville, near to the training school. Event participants will include Trent Crew, mayor of Wytheville; Dr. Albert Armentrout, superintendent of Wythe County schools; Frances Emerson, president of the Wytheville Training School Cultural Center, and John M. Johnson, vice-president and director of the center.

The Wytheville Training School traces its roots back to 1867 when the Freedmen’s Bureau began educating African Americans recently freed from enslavement in Wytheville and constructed a building for that purpose. That building was replaced in 1882 by the structure that became known as the Wytheville Training School, which now serves as a cultural center.

The training school marker was sponsored by the Department of Historic Resources in collaboration with the Virginia Historical Society as part of the department’s initiative to recognize and educate citizens about Virginia’s diverse historic legacy.

For more information about the marker dedication, contact the Wytheville Training School Cultural Center at (276) 625-0042.

The Board of Historic Resources approved the Wytheville Training School highway marker in December 2005, and the Virginia Department of Transportation installed the sign.

The Virginia highway marker program is one of the oldest in the nation. Currently there are more than 1,800 official state markers.

More information about the Historical Highway Marker Program is available on the Department of Historic Resources’ Web site at http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/ .