Oceana High School Pillars

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Oceana High School Pillars have stood at 121 West Lane, formerly 1636 Southern Boulevard, since the World War II era in the 1940's. Currently, the lot serves as a bus depot for the city. However, the pillars used to serve as the entrance gate at Oceana High School after their construction. Today, the pillars still stand at the entrance, even though the school is demolished.

Images

The Southern Pillar

The Northern Pillar

Class of 1941 plaque on the southern pillar

Class of 1942 plaque on the northern pillar

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Oceana High School opened its doors in 1908. The high school served Princess Anne County, which is now the City of Virginia Beach, and specifically the Oceana neighborhood. The pillars themselves were built in 1941 to serve as the entrance gate for the high school. The pillars were dedicated by the classes of 1941 and 1942 at Oceana High School. The high school closed its doors in 1954, maintenance was part of the problem, and was replaced by a consolidation of schools. The pillars remained after the school’s closing and can remind all of the property's former use.

121 West Lane is currently an empty lot owned by the Virginia Beach School Board. The lot is fenced in and used to house buses for the Virginia Beach City Public School System. The bus depot also features a fuel dispenser for the buses that is visible near the pillars. The pillars stand on West Lane and serve as part of the entrance gate for the bus terminal.

The pillars themselves are made out of brick. They are connected to a large metal gate used for the bus depot. On each pillar, there is a marble plaque for the Oceana High School Classes of 1941 and 1942 which donated the pillars. The southern pillar (left) has the plaque devoted to class of 1941 on its center. The northern pillar (right) has the plaque inscribed to the class of 1942 on its center.

Sources

Carey, Liz. Va. Beach High School's Class of 1964: a lot of catching up to do, The Virginian-Pilot. September 7th 2014. Accessed December 11th 2019. https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_2e20a503-1009-5eb6-980a-f13cd7480940.html.

Focke, Cindy Butler. 60 years later, memories of Oceana High linger, The Virginian-Pilot. September 28th 2014. Accessed December 11th 2019. https://www.pilotonline.com/news/article_e4a6d58b-8c8f-58d6-a3c1-71c286eb3927.html.

National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Accessed December 11th 2019. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/134-0968_OceanaNeighborhood_HD_2017_NRHP_FINAL.pdf.

"VCRIS 134-0485 121 West Lane Oceana High School Pillars." PDF file

Image Sources(Click to expand)

McCoy, M. (2019, December)