Old Goochland Central High School

Located in Goochland, Virginia:

“Central High School, Goochland County’s only high school for African American students, opened here in 1938. It replaced Fauquier Training School, which stood across the street from 1923, when construction was completed with support from the Julius Rosenwald Fund, until it burned in 1937. Central High, a six-room brick building that was later enlarged, was built on an 11-acre site with a grant from the Public Works Administration, a New Deal agency. Its academic, social, and cultural programs were central to the community. After the county desegregated its schools under federal court order in 1969, the building became a junior high school.”

This past Saturday, I had the opportunity to travel back to Virginia to take photographs of another amazing location. Located about 32 miles outside of Richmond, VA, I had passed the town on my way to Berkeley Plantation last month.

From upstairs, the school has been modernized and remodeled, but as you begin down the stairs, time stands still. Seemingly untouched since closed, the school sleeps. Lockers line the hallways, with stickers still inside. Homework and classwork remain on the tables and chalkboards.

The event in Goochland brought in the special guest, Mustafa Gatollari, and it was a great time getting to catch up with the Flumeri Family and friends.

I had a great time getting to shoot throughout the evening and well into the night. It really is like stepping into a time machine. You can almost (or maybe you can) hear the students walking to class and the locker dials turning.