National Register Lists Vale Schoolhouse
Vale Club to host celebration in October
Photos
Within three months of earning a spot on the Virginia Landmarks Register, Vale Schoolhouse has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The National Register, administered by the National Park Services, lists national landmarks deemed worthy of preservation.
Constructed around 1884 as a one-room schoolhouse, Vale Schoolhouse — at the corner of Vale and Fox Mill roads — expanded to two rooms in 1912 and was closed in 1931. Four years later, the Fairfax County School Board allowed the schoolhouse to reopen as a community building for the Vale Home Demonstration Club, founded by Florence Jodzies, who had just recently moved to the area. Vale Club, which exists today, is a direct descendant of the home demonstration club.
Friends of Vale Schoolhouse, the nonprofit dedicated to preserving the building, has had the goal of getting the schoolhouse on the National Register for decades. The Friends group is made up of members of the Vale Club.
"We, as a group of woman, understood that we had something special. There was a recognition out there and we fought to get that. We deserved it," said Trish Strat, Vale Club's publicity chairwoman. "We knew our building was special and worthy of preservation. It's just a way of identifying ourselves to the community and the historians in a way that says, 'We're doing all the right things to preserve our building.'"
Besides recognition, a spot on the register offers protection in case of any construction in the area. Any projects planned for the area will have to take special consideration for the schoolhouse now that it's a national landmark.
"I am incredibly proud to be part of the Vale Club, to be part of this group of women," said Carol Cross, president of Friends of Vale Schoolhouse. "Trish and I may have been the ones to actually write the nomination for the National Register, but it's the women of Vale Club who, for more than 75 years, have preserved that place for the community and made that recognition possible."
Vale Club will host a celebration at the schoolhouse noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 15 to commemorate the success in having the property listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
John Farrell
10:35 pm on Monday, June 27, 2011
I drive by this building twice a day and never understood its national historic significance. After reading this article twice, I still do not understand the building's national historic significance.
It's not the first school house in Fairfax. That's next to the courthouse at Chain Bridge and Judicial Drive. Virginia was one of the last state's to establish a public school system. Was this school house used by African-Americans during the segregation era?
Other than impeding improvements to Vale of Fox Mill Roads, what has been accomplished with the National Register listing.
Trish Strat
7:56 pm on Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Hi John!
If you are on Facebook, you can read the Press Release about the National Register listing on the FB Group "Vale Neighborhood in Oakton, VA". Briefly, however, the National Park Service found Vale School/Community House to be significant in three areas:
1) Architecture: Locally significant as the best preserved two-room schoolhouse in Fairfax County. The building served as a school for less than 50 years. (The Legato School you mentioned was moved to its present location and refurbished, and thus not eligible to be listed on the National Register.)
2) Social History: Locally significant as a Community House serving the farming community of Vale. Many of the functions of the Community House still remain 76 years later...
3) Person: Significant on the state level because of the contributions made by the founder of Vale Club, Florence Jodzies, whose work helped provide rural communities across Virginia with access to libraries.
If you're interested in our local history, the Oakton Library and City of Fairfax Library have copies of my book, "75 Years in Vale," which was written for the celebration the 75th anniversary of the founding of Vale Club.
Patricia Strat
Vale Club History Committee
Nicole Trifone
10:53 pm on Monday, June 27, 2011
John,
You'll find a more thorough explanation of the schoolhouse's significance in the last article written about it, which is also linked in the above article: http://oakton.patch.com/articles/vale-schoolhouse-earns-state-historical-designation. Hope that helps.
Nicole