New Mexico school building gets historic designation

A former Vado school has been added to the National Registry for Historic Places.

Paul Lawrance Dunbar Elementary School served 31 years as a segregated school for African-American students from 1926-1951.

The four-classroom building — named after an African American poet — still stands at 325 Holguin Road in Vado.

Segregation in New Mexico ended shortly after the Brown vs Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1954.

The school taught elementary through high school.

The building currently serves as a community center and facility for the head start program.