as 15,000 people to the school. Matthew Fontaine Maury The school is named for Matthew Fontaine Maury (1806–1873), a Spotsylvania County, Virginia native who was known as the "Pathfinder of the Seas". Maury studied ocean currents and published the first reliable oceanographic charts. Maury was involved in the founding of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and taught at the Virginia Military Institute. Design and construction Maury School reflects a Colonial Revival-style architecture. The school is made up of three matching buildings with 65,000 square feet of space. The first building opened in 1920 and was called Fredericksburg High School. The school was designed to serve white students in grades 7 - 12. In 1930 an auditorium and gym were added. An identical building was built in 1937 to house elementary school students and is connected by a covered walkway. The architect of the buildings was Philip Nathaniel Stern (1878–1960) of Fredericksburg, who was also architect for many of the buildings at what is now the University of Mary Washington. Historian and writer Jack D. Warren Jr. called Maury School "the best example of institutional Colonial Revival architecture in Fredericksburg". References School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Colonial Revival architecture in Virginia School School buildings completed in 1920 Schools in Fredericksburg, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia 1920 establishments in Virginia