This Day in Henrico History: October 28 – Fair Oaks School dedicates its new brick building
On October 28, 1951, Fair Oaks School in eastern Henrico held a dedication service for its new brick building. The surviving program identifies the occasion as a Sunday evening service at 8 p.m., providing a precise date for a milestone in the community’s educational history.
The building replaced an earlier four-room wooden school serving Black children during segregation. The school’s roots reached back to 1926 and the Rosenwald school-building effort, which combined philanthropy with local support to expand educational opportunities for Black students.
A Richmond Times-Dispatch clipping dated July 16, 1950, preserved by the Henrico County Historical Society, described plans for seven classrooms, a library, cafeteria, kitchen, clinic, and an auditorium that could serve other purposes. It named J. Binford Walford and O. Pendleton Wright as architects and Howard & Mitchell Construction Company as builder.
The dedication marked completion of that new school building, rather than the founding of Fair Oaks itself. Its library, gathering spaces, and indoor facilities represented a substantial change from the smaller schoolhouse that had preceded it.
Sources: Fair Oaks School, Service of Dedication program, October 28, 1951 (cover scan); Richmond Times-Dispatch, “New Henrico School,” July 16, 1950 (clipping scan); Henrico County Historical Society, Fair Oaks School history; Henrico County Public Schools, Fair Oaks centennial announcement, April 16, 2026.
