Old Main
About this property
Stuart Hall School is a Staunton, Virginia, co-educational school for students from Grade 6 to Grade 12, and it offers a boarding program from Grades 8 to 12. Stuart Hall School was established in 1827. The head of the school is Jason Coady. In the school review website Niche, Stuart Hall School was the 34th best private high school in Virginia in 2022. In 1827, Stuart Hall started as Mrs. Maria Sheffey's school which held classes in her Staunton home - Kalorama. It was called Kalorama Seminary. In 1844, they renamed the school to "Virginia Female Institute." The School was the oldest preparatory school for women in Virginia. Old Main is a three-story, five-bay, brick Greek Revival style building completed in 1844, which was designed and built by Edwin Taylor. It has a two-story, three-bay, Doric order portico with a simple heavy frieze supported by four-paneled piers. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. It is located in the Newtown Historic District. The school first only had 50 students in 1844. By the year of 1856, the school had grown to over 100 girls attending, including Eleanor Agnes Lee and Anne Custis Lee, daughters of Robert E. Lee. During the American Civil War, the school's building was used to house the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind while the latter's building was being used as a hospital. Students then attended classes in a nearby home in Staunton. The school reopened in 1865 after the war. Robert E. Lee served as the president of the board of governors at the school. Mrs. Flora Cooke Stuart, widow of Confederate cavalryman, J.E.B. "Jeb" Stuart, became to the head of school in 1880. The curriculum expanded from not only English and Religion, to offering a variety of foreign languages, sciences, and mathematics. Later, the school changed the name to Stuart Hall taken from the headmaster at the time, Flora Cooke Stuart, from 1880 to 1899 who claimed, "the school’s high character in every department gives it an enviable name among schools." In 1992, the Middle School was opened, serving male and female day students in Grades 6 to 8. In 1999, boys were accepted as day students into the Upper School. In 2007, Stuart Hall School merged with Hunter McGuire School in Verona, VA, and again became a K-12 independent school. A prekindergarten class was added in 2008. In 2020 the school decided to "phase out" the lower grades and by 2023 will serve students in grades 6–12. The Hunter McGuire Lower School was sold in 2021. Traditions at Stuart Hall School can be traced to the school's founding. The traditions include a variety of events, such as athletic competitions, school celebrations, class activities, etc. Leavetaking is a tradition that takes place before each major break, where students and faculty line up and say goodbye to each other individually.
Location
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Old Main listed on the National Register?
Old Main was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 12, 1974.
What type of historic resource is Old Main?
Old Main is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Old Main?
The period of significance for Old Main is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Old Main?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Old Main will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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