Current photo of Allen Jay Rock Gym taken from Allen Jay Road looking west
Description
The Allen Jay School Rock Gymnasium opened on November 21, 1939, on the school campus then outside High Point, North Carolina. Besides a gymnasium, the building had locker rooms, a library, and two classrooms. The project was completed using funds from the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Since the county school board could not fund school construction in 1937, the small community decided to build the gymnasium themselves with locally-donated materials and funding from the WPA. In the final plans, the gym needed to be masonry construction, which had not been figured into the initial project. The WPA had experience building with fieldstone on many national park projects, so it was suggested that the community collect rocks from the surrounding area and bring them to the school. Rocks of all sizes were brought to the worksite for the WPA workers—students even bringing rocks in lunch bags. Parts of the interior of the building were remodeled in 2014. Today, Allen Jay Middle School students assemble in the gymnasium every morning before classes begin.
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Allen Jay Rock Gym marker
Source notes
The National Register nomination includes this information. It is also documented with the school's history.
(https://www.hpo.ncdcr.gov/nr/GF7101.pdf), accessed January 22, 2018.
(https://www.hpenews.com/news/rock-gym-open-house-slated-for-sunday/article_7fd62bf9-d817-525f-abff-72cc6538486b.html), accessed January 22, 2018.
See also High Point Enterprise newspaper articles 11/19/1939 and 11/21/1939Entry author is Curator at the High Point Museum. Staff has done extensive research on New Deal projects for High Point, NC, in support of an exhibit. We noticed that The Living New Deal listed none for High Point, and there are many.
Project originally submitted by Marian Inabinett, High Point Museum on January 23, 2018.
We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.
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