Fairmount School (Fairmount House Apartments)

This school was built around 1895, and at that time, it served the town of Fairmount in Henrico County. In 1906, Fairmount was annexed into the City of Richmond, and the school had an enrollment over 500 students at that time along with 15 teachers. Until 1958, school enrollment was restricted to white students. The building was enlarged several times between 1908 and 1950. The school was renamed Helen Dickinson in 1925 to honor a former principal. In 1958, the school was converted into a school for African Americans, and at that time, the Fairmount name was reinstated. The school closed in 1979, and the city later sold the building to Churchill-Fairmount Limited Partnership. Fairmount School was renovated in 1994 into apartments known as Fairmount House to house the handicapped or the elderly. In 2005, the Empire/ Gothic Revival style Fairmount School was added to the National Register of Historic Places; it is in the center of the 99-acre Fairmount Historic District, listed in 2008.

The original part of Fairmount School was built around 1895 in Fairmount, in the Fairfield District of Henrico County, as a two-story brick building over a high basement with a south-facing, three-story mansard-roofed tower. The original architect of the Gothic Revival style building is unknown. Fairmount was established as a suburban development in 1890 on a hill just east of Richmond and was incorporated as a town in 1902. The school's principal, Mr. W. A. Crenshaw, retired in 1902. After the expansion of the City of Richmond in 1906, the Town of Fairmount became part of the city. Enrollment was nearly 700 students in 1907 in grades one to seven; Fairmount was one of the city schools reserved for Whites. The Richmond School Board hired A. F. Huntt to design an addition to the school; the April 1907 budget included $2,000 for an additional lot to enlarge Fairmount School; $25,000 for the additions; $4,000 for steam heating; and $1.500 for furniture. An office, assembly room, and eight more classrooms were built in 1908. The principal of Fairmount School from 1906 to 1924 was Helen Dickinson, a former teacher in the Fairfield District. Dickinson was one of the only female principals in the city in 1909; all fifteen teachers in the school were unmarried women.

The school building was expanded several more times, with fourteen more rooms added in 1916, designed by Charles M. Robinson; the school lost its garden space for the new addition. The school property expanded to the north in 1924. Miss Dickinson passed away on April 26th, 1924. The school was renamed after Dickinson in 1925. Her successor, C. B. Givens, served as principal until 1947. A new auditorium was built in 1950, plus a cafeteria, library, and office; architects Baskervill & Son drew up the plans. The name changed back to Fairmount in September 1958, when the school became an African-American public school. White students were transferred to Highland Park and Nathaniel Bacon Schools, retaining segregation of the races in defiance of federal law. Fairmount enrollment neared 800 by 1959, and four more classrooms were formed in 1961 within the former auditorium. Harvey O'Neil Freeman was the principal from 1958 to 1971, followed by Tanner Anthony Collins until 1979.

Fairmount School closed in 1979. The building served as George Mason School temporarily from 1979-1980 while the Mason building was under renovation. The city declared Fairmount as surplus property in January 1981. The 1916 and 1950 additions were removed in the 1980s. Churchill-Fairmount Limited Partnership bought the property and rehabilitated the building in 1994 into apartments for the elderly or the handicapped; each classroom space became one apartment. A second, six-story apartment building was constructed to the north of the school for additional apartments. Fairmount House Apartments contain studio and one-bedroom rental units.

Anonymous. "Soon Begin Work on Improvements." Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond) April 30th, 1907. 12-12.

Anonymous. "Social and Personal." Richmond Times (Richmond) March 21st, 1902. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Teachers Chosen for Next Session." Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond) June 8th, 1905. , 12-12.

Apartments.com. Fairmount House, Apartments.com. January 1st, 2024. Accessed January 3rd, 2024. https://www.apartments.com/fairmount-house-richmond-va/gsh94cx/.

Green, Bryan Clark. NRHP nomination of Fairmount School, Richmond, Virginia. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2005.

Necciai, Terry. Falk, Kirsten , et al. NRHP nomination of Fairmount Historic District, Richmond, Virginia. National Register of Historic Places. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 2007.

Richmond Public Schools. Fairmount School, RPS: A Mini History: Bits & Pieces. Accessed January 11th, 2024. http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/aboutrps/rpshistory/fn/fairmount.aspx.

Richmond Public Schools. Dickinson (Helen) School, RPS: A Mini History: Bits & Pieces. Accessed January 11th, 2024. http://web.richmond.k12.va.us/AboutRPS/RPSHistory/AE/Dickinson.aspx.

Superintendent, Richmond Public Schools. Fortieth Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Public Schools of the City of Richmond, Va. for the Scholastic Year Ending July 31, 1909. Richmond, VA. Clyde W. Saunders, 1910.

Superintendent, Richmond Public Schools. Forty-Sixth Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Public Schools of the City of Richmond, Va. for the Scholastic Year Ending June 30, 1915. Richmond, VA. Clyde W. Saunders, 1916.

Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 127-0308, Fairmount School, Historic Registers. June 2nd, 2023. Accessed January 11th, 2024. https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/127-0308/.