The original Lucy Addison High School, built in 1928 as a segregated high school for Black Roanokers, is one of nine historic places recently listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register (VLR) following approval by the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Board of Historic Resources on June 12, 2025. In addition, the Board approved a highway marker for Lucy Addison, the school’s namesake, that will be installed in front of the building.
Lucy Addison High School was built in 1928 at 40 Douglass Ave. NW as the City of Roanoke’s first high school specifically designed to serve Black students during the period of racial segregation in Virginia’s public schools. Named for the pioneering Black educator Lucy Addison, the school represented a significant investment by city leaders in the education of local African American students and was touted as a standard-bearer in Virginia at the time for its high school training programs for Black youth.
Following the opening of a new Lucy Addison High School on 5th Street in 1952 (now Lucy Addison Middle School), the original building was renamed Booker T. Washington Junior High. After integration in 1971, the school building was used as Roanoke City Public Schools’ administrative offices until 2025. Starting July 1, it will serve as the school division’s Community Empowerment Center at Booker T. Washington…