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Harrisonburg Tour SIte 13

Effinger Street School

450 N Mason Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22802

Last updated on July 3, 2025
Directions from Mary Fairfax Home to site 13:
  • Make a left onto E Gay St
  • Make the right into the parking lot
  • Site 13 was here in the Roses Discount Store parking lot
The history of African American schooling in Harrisonburg began after the Civil War in 1868. A mission school was established for African American children, held on the upper floor of the Old Scanlon Hotel. The school moved operations to the Southern Methodist Episcopal Church on West Market Street. In 1870, Harrisonburg implemented the racially segregated public school system in Virginia. The first one-room school for black children was built near Blacks Run and was called Whipple School and/or The Tine Cup Alley School. From 1870 to 1882, black children were educated in the small building that locals referred to as “the little old schoolhouse by the creek.”
 
The Harrisonburg school board met with black citizens to discuss a new schoolhouse in Newtown. The Harrisonburg Town Council allocated $2,000 for the new Harrisonburg Colored School, built in 1882, which faced Effinger Street. The two-story, four-room brick schoolhouse opened on September 8, 1883. Lucinda Bragg was assigned as the first principal of Effinger, and Lucy Simms and Lizzie Evans were the school’s first instructors. Effinger was the primary education center for African Americans in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County, serving as a hub for community activity after school hours. The school operated on three grades based on reading level. Teachers taught academic subjects, including history, government, English, and mathematics. The staff formed the Colored Teacher’s Association, which held monthly meetings to discuss important topics such as teaching techniques. The school was full of children eager to learn and teachers dedicated to their students’ success. Many students recall the dedication and kindness shown to them by their teachers, as well as the enjoyable times they spent with their peers.
 
Effinger School did not have ample space for occasions such as graduation and assemblies. In 1908, an auditorium and two more classrooms were added to accommodate more students. Construction was completed in 1910. A larger porch was built at the entrance. Electric lighting and adequate ventilation were installed. The expanded basement area included toilets, showers, lavatories, and fountains. A new heating furnace was installed for the cold months. There was still no school cafeteria; therefore, students brought bag lunches or went home for a meal. The gymnasium at the Colonnade (Site 11) on Wolfe Street was used for sporting events, dances, and other events for Effinger.
 
Under the leadership of Principal W.N.P Harris, Effinger was accredited as a high school in 1915. The school implemented economics, music, and industrial arts into its curriculum. There also the new inclusion of vocational instruction their courses. During 1905 to 1910, there was national push to provide more education in trades because of industrialization and need for skilled labors. Effinger evolved from three grade levels into a familiar grade structure. In December 1915, Principal Harris began offering night school for students aged 14 and older. The age range of participants was 14 to 70. This allowed older African Americans, who had previously been denied education, to learn after a day’s work.
 
In 1937, Effinger was in poor condition and was considered a fire hazard. After almost 60 years, Effinger Street School closed in 1938. A new school, the Lucy F. Simms School, was established in 1939. It was named after former teacher Lucy F. Simms, who taught at Effinger for almost 50 years. Effinger was constructed when government institutions withheld significant funding, attention, and resources from black schools. The staff and students of Effinger worked hard to create an atmosphere of learning, exploration, and community. The Effinger Street School building was torn down in 1965 during the city’s Urban Renewal projects in the northeast neighborhood. The lot where the school once stood is now part of a shopping center that cut off Effinger Street’s connection to Main Street.


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  • Tours
    • Frederick County Tour >
      • Mt. Zion Cemetery
      • Senseney Avenue
      • Belle Grove Plantation
      • Stephens City's Rosenwald School
      • Locust Grove Cemetery
      • Orrick Chapel
      • Crossroads/Freetown
      • Tokes Inn
      • Dr. Sarah Brown House
      • Winchester
    • Clarke/Warren Counties Tour >
      • Lewisville Community
      • Clifton Farm Slave Quarters
      • Bristow Community
      • Webbtown Community
      • Clermont Farm
      • Blackburn Town
      • Clarke County Courthouse
      • Josephine City
      • Josephine School Community Museum
      • Annefield Farm
      • Old Chapel
      • Little Chapel (Claytonville)
      • Browntown
      • Millwood
      • Enslaved Burials at Blandy Farm
      • White Post
      • Sugar Hill
      • Stone Bridge
      • Smoketown
      • Happy Creek Loop
      • Good Hope Cemetery
      • Ressie Jeffries Elementary
      • Front Royal Colored School
      • Warren County High School
      • Prospect Hill Cemetery
      • Freetown/Southtown
      • Mount Vernon Baptist Church
      • Williams Chapel
      • Warren Heritage Society
      • Henrico Baltimore Family Cemetery
    • Shenandoah/Page Counties Tour >
      • Mt. Zion Baptist Church and Naked Creek Colored School
      • Catherine Furnace
      • Stony Man
      • Pass Run
      • Hamburg African American Regular School
      • St. John's Baptist Church
      • Rockingham County Bronze Turkey Statue
      • French’s Fence line Burials
      • Steptoe Barber Shop
      • Jessie Rupert Schoolhouse
      • Zion Baptist Church and School
      • Durrett’s Cleaners
      • Asbury Memorial Methodist Church
      • Corhaven Graveyard
      • Calvary Methodist Church and School
      • First Baptist Church
      • Mount Jackson Colored Cemetery
      • Cemetery at Lantz Mill
      • Columbia Furnace
      • Liberty Furnace
      • Wolf Gap
      • Riverview Cemetery
      • Creekside Elementary School
      • Mt. Zion Methodist Church
      • Woodstock “Colored School” (1867-1937)
      • Spengler Home
      • Esbie Baptist Church
      • Sunset Hill School
    • Town of Luray >
      • Ulysses Simpson Grant Fry Restaurant
      • Tutt's Tavern and Home
      • Bethel Baptist Church
      • Bethany Veney Historical Marker
      • West Luray School
      • Butler's Store and Home
      • Jackson Store and Home
      • St. John Baptist Church
      • Jackie's Beauty Salon
      • Historic Andrew Jackson School Museum
      • Thomas Dougans Taxi Cab Co.
      • Tutt's Auto
      • Tutt's Upholstery and Slaughterhouse
      • Wright's Restaurant
      • Midway Inn
      • King's Restaurant
      • Earl Harris Barber Shop
      • Little Angels Daycare
      • Emmett Arthur Dougans Bridge
      • Hillside Cemetery
    • City of Harrisonburg Tour >
      • Jail Hill
      • William Strother House
      • Jeremiah Gibson Properties
      • Hite Family Home
      • Peters' Family Properties
      • The Blue Circle 30 Club
      • First Baptist Church
      • Doc Dickerson's House
      • Ida Mae Francis Tourist Home
      • Blakey's Barbershop and Upholstery
      • The Colonnade
      • Mary Awkard-Fairfax' Home
      • Effinger Street School
      • Roberta Webb's Home
      • Historic Broad Street Mennonite Church
      • First Baptist Church (Present Day)
      • Stuart’s Little Record Shop
      • Bethel AME Church
      • Dallard-Newman House
      • Lucy F. Simms' Home
      • Lucy F. Simms School
      • Ralph Sampson Park
      • Harris Pool
      • Newtown Cemetery
      • John Wesley United Methodist Church
      • Edgar Amos Love Historical Marker
      • Exchange Club Park
      • Ott Dependency
      • Hardesty-Higgins House Visitor Center
      • Harry Lee's Shoe Shine Parlor
      • Rockingham County Courthouse
      • Charlotte Harris Historical Marker
      • Elon Rhodes Barbershop
      • World War I Memorial
      • Furious Flower Poetry Center
      • Harrisonburg-Rockingham County NAACP
    • Rockingham County Tour >
      • Valley Pike
      • Smithland Historic Home
      • Long's Chapel and Cemetery
      • Wilson and Fortune Cemetery
      • Residents of Zenda
      • Pickering’s Farmland Enslaved Burials
      • Tenth Legion Churches
      • Tunker Monument
      • Moore Family Burial Ground
      • Linville Creek Church of the Brethren Cemetery
      • Issac Riddle Farm African American Cemetery
      • Bergton Fairgrounds
      • Lincoln Homestead and Family Cemetery
      • Mannheim Plantation
      • Oak Grove Church and Cemetery
      • Daniel Harrison House (Fort Harrison)
      • Rocktown History
      • Spring Creek Negro Cemetery
      • North River Baptist Church
      • Greenwood Cemetery
      • Roscoe Burgess Sr. Riverwalk
      • Mt. Crawford Community Cemetery
      • Mt. Moriah United Methodist Church and Cemetery
      • Marshall Jones House
      • Bogota Farm
      • Dungeon's Chapel and Cemetery
      • Jonathan Peale House
      • Riverbank Plantation
      • Blakey Farm
      • New Hope Church and Cemetery
      • McGaheyville's Rosenwald School
      • Mt. Sinai Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Bible Way Church of God in Christ and Cemetery
      • St. Hebron Baptist Church Cemetery and Greenwood Family Cemetery
      • St. Hebron Baptist Church
      • Mt. Paran Church Lot
      • Newtown School of East Elkton
      • St. Paul United Methodist Church and Cemetery
      • Elk Run Cemetery
      • Rockingham County Bronze Turkey Statue
    • Augusta County Tour >
      • Mount Sydney Schoolhouse No.27
      • Spring Hill Negro Cemetery
      • Fairview Cemetery
      • Kenneth L. Jones Funeral Home
      • Pannell’s Inn
      • Richmond Beneficial Company
      • Franklin T. Jones Tourist Home
      • D. Webster Davis School
      • Abbot’s Beauty School
      • Mount Zion Baptist Church
      • The Snack Shop
      • Ebenezer Baptist Church
      • Effie Ann Johnson Nursery School
      • Staunton Tribune
      • Augusta Street United Methodist Church
      • Charles L. Johnson’s Restaurant
      • Cabell Log House
      • Kier’s Tailoring and Alteration Service
      • Dr. C.J. Waller and Oscar W. Marshall
      • Colored Masonic Mount Zion Lodge No. 18
      • John Chiles Dental Office
      • The Peoples Dime Savings Bank
      • Crawford’s Barbershop
      • J. H. Gibson Grocery Store
      • Free School for Colored Children No. 2
      • James M Morris, Attorney-at-Law
      • Green Street
      • Vickers Way
      • Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church
      • Queen Miller Orphanage
      • Central Augusta High School
      • Community United Methodist Church
      • Cedar Green Negro Cemeteries
      • Augusta County Training School
      • Hunter Cemetery at Shady Oak Station
      • Smokey Row Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Montgomery Hall Park
      • T.C. Edmunds School
      • Booker T. Washington High School
      • Uniontown
      • Beverly Manor Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Mt. Marine Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Oak Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Oak Grove Elementary School
      • New Hope Churches and Schoolhouse
      • Crimora School
      • Morning Star Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • North Park Pool
      • Fairview Cemetery (Waynesboro)
      • Waynesboro’s Rosenwald School
      • Dr. Philip A. Hilton & Dr. Chavis Home and Office
      • Pleasant View United Methodist Church
      • McCutcheon’s Funeral Home
      • Abraham Hall
      • Shiloh Baptist Church
      • Elks Lodge
      • Tarry’s Hotel
      • Union Baptist Church
      • Steadfast Church of God in Christ and Cemetery
      • Beulah Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Hatton Pond Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Greenville Cemetery
      • Fannie Thompson House
      • Oak Hill Baptist Church and Cemetery
      • Staunton NAACP & Waynesboro NAACP
  • Exhibit
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