A group that owns the former all-black Jones School campus in Mount Airy is seeking a grant to develop a...

A group that owns the former all-black Jones School campus in Mount Airy is seeking a grant to develop a monument there honoring a key chapter in its 90-year history related to the school's construction. The effort is spearheaded by the African American Historical and Genealogical Society of Surry County, which has owned the school property since 2022 and maintained it as a community institution.

The group is eyeing a possible Monuments Across Appalachian Places grant funded by the Mellon Foundation and administered by Virginia Tech. Adreann Belle, an official of the local group, said the program encourages communities to uncover untold stories and transform them into creative reimagined monuments that go beyond traditional memorials. The focus at Jones School is on students who played an important role in construction there: students ages 14 to 18 learned brick-masonry skills at the school and poured footings and prepared foundations for the auditorium, band room and gymnasium, and also helped build Reeves Community Center in the early 1950s along with houses and patios throughout the area.

Belle said the goal is to ensure that untold story becomes recognized as part of the community's history. Through the grant, the society hopes to create a creative interactive monument incorporating some of the original bricks laid by the students along with new materials to develop a courtyard in front of the building on Jones School Road. Inside, visitors could experience a mural, historic artwork and an interactive museum. Belle's presentation to Mount Airy officials was meant to engage the city government in an advisory capacity, and Mayor Jon Cawley asked City Manager Darren Lewis to lend the municipality's support to the endeavor.

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Source note: Star News TV · Oct 26, 2026 10:11 PM.