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Est. MMXXVI · Alexandria, Virginia

Stylized illustration of Parker Gray School Site (early twentieth-century institutional building).
Placeholder illustration of Parker Gray School Site. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.

Institutional · Alexandria, VA

900
Wythe Street

Site of Alexandria’s segregated public school for Black students, opened in 1920 at 900 Wythe Street and replaced in 1950 by a new Parker-Gray High School that served until desegregation in 1965.
Jim Crow Era
38.8121, -77.0479 Claim this place
Year built
1950
Style
Mid-Century Institutional
Status
Extant
Designations
Parker-Gray Historic District

Narrative

Place narrative

The original Parker-Gray School opened at 900 Wythe Street in 1920, the first Alexandria public school building dedicated to Black students. It was named for John Parker and Sarah A. Gray, two nineteenth-century teachers of Black children in the city. The school offered grades one through eight; Black students seeking a high-school diploma had to travel to Washington or other nearby cities [1] Source 1 Alexandria Library Special Collections Manuscript .

A replacement building on the same site opened in 1950 as Parker-Gray High School, serving as the city’s only public secondary school for Black students. The institution, Parker-Gray School Nonprofit Parker-Gray School founded 1920 Alexandria's segregated public school for Black students, named for John Parker and Sarah Gray, two early Black educators in the city. Parker-Gray operated as the city's only Black … , closed as a segregated high school in 1965 when Alexandria desegregated under federal court order and its students were reassigned to T. C. Williams and George Washington high schools [1] Source 1 Alexandria Library Special Collections Manuscript . The building subsequently served as a middle school and is now the Charles Houston Recreation Center.

The surrounding neighborhood was formally designated the Parker-Gray Historic District by the City of Alexandria in 1984, recognizing its role as the center of the city’s African American community during the twentieth century [2] Source 2 HABS Alexandria survey Government record .

A Place in Time

Timeline

5 chronological entries across 2 eras.

· · Jim Crow Era Mid-Century Transformation
Jim Crow Era · 1900–1960 4 entries
  1. –

    The Parker-Gray School operated at this site from 1920 through its closure as a segregated high school in 1965. [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    Parker-Gray School operator school
  2. –

    The surrounding Parker-Gray neighborhood was the center of Alexandria's Black community during the segregation era; its residents were descendants of the wartime contraband community. [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    Freedmen of the Contrabands Camp resident neighborhood

  3. Opening of the original Parker-Gray School [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    construction

  4. Construction of Parker-Gray High School [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    construction
Mid-Century Transformation · 1960–1990 1 entry

  1. Desegregation closes Parker-Gray High School [1] Source Alexandria Library Special Collections

    legal action

Architecture

The building

Style
Mid-Century Institutional

Images

Gallery

  • Secondary illustration of Parker Gray School Site (early twentieth-century institutional building).
    Secondary placeholder view of Parker Gray School Site. Seed placeholder — KingSt.com, 2026. To be replaced with archival photograph.

People & organizations

Connected

  • Nonprofit · Notable

    Parker-Gray School

    founded 1920· dissolved 1965

    Alexandria's segregated public school for Black students, named for John Parker and Sarah Gray, two early Black educators in the city. Parker-Gray operated as the city's only Black …

    Operator · School · %!d(float64=1920)–%!d(float64=1965)

  • Family · Notable

    Freedmen of the Contrabands Camp

    founded 1861

    Collective entity representing the several thousand formerly enslaved people who fled to Union-occupied Alexandria during the Civil War, settling in camps at Shuter's Hill, around …

    Resident · Neighborhood · %!d(float64=1920)–%!d(float64=1965)

Contemporary

Nearby in time

Geographically

Nearby in space

Current

Now

No current occupant on file. Are you, or someone you know, the present occupant? Claim this place to add operating hours, a current photo, and a short note.

About this street

All Old Town street origins →

Wythe Street

Named for George Wythe — Virginia signer of the Declaration of Independence, jurist, c. 1810.

On the ground

Interpretive signs nearby

All 250 city signs →

The City of Alexandria has installed 5 historical interpretive signs within walking distance of this place. Each links to the actual sign image on alexandriava.gov.

References

Sources

  1. 1.

    Alexandria Library, Local History/Special Collections, Barrett Branch, Alexandria, Virginia.

    Manuscript

  2. 2.

    Historic American Buildings Survey, Alexandria, Virginia records, National Park Service / Library of Congress.

    Government record

Corrections welcome

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