Phenix High School was a school for African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 students which was opened on the campus of the normal school

Normal school

A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...

 which grew to become today's Hampton University

Hampton University

Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...

 near the town of Hampton

Hampton

-In Australia:*Hampton, Queensland*Hampton, Victoria*Hampton East, Victoria*Hampton Island*Hampton Park, Victoria-In Canada:*Hampton, New Brunswick*Hampton, Nova Scotia*Hampton, Ontario*Hampton, Prince Edward Island-In the United Kingdom:...

 and Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

 in Elizabeth City County, Virginia

Elizabeth City County, Virginia

Elizabeth City County was a county in southeastern Virginia from 1634 to 1952. Originally created in 1634 as Elizabeth River Shire, it was one of eight shires created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. In 1636, it was subdivided, and the portion north of the harbor of Hampton...

 in the period immediately following the conclusion of the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Phenix High School, first established in 1931, was named for George Perly Phenix (1864–1930), a native of Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. Dr. Phenix who was the first administrator to hold the title of "president" of the university . A popular administrator, Dr. Phenix died suddenly in a drowning accident a few months before the new school he had championed opened.

The original building survives as became Phenix Hall on the University's campus after it was replaced in 1958 with a newer building off campus which was affiliated with the Hampton City Public Schools system. In 1968, during reorganization to accomplish desegregation of the division's public schools, the second Phenix High School was renamed Pembroke High School. That building was closed in 1980, and the building now houses the Hampton Family YMCA and social services offices of the Hampton city government.

A third school bearing the name "Phenix" was under construction in 2010.