Pennsylvania Historic Preservation

Blog of the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office

Tag: Schools

Sloan’s used his ‘Philadelphia Plan’ for the Fayette School, built in 1855. This picture shows the school in the late 19th century before the large 1915 addition by the school district. Source: http://hiddencityphila.org/2012/08/its-been-a-bad-year-for-you-samuel-sloan/

Making the Grade: The Architecture of Philadelphia’s Public Schools, Part 1

February 18, 2015 / / 4 Comments

The architectural historian in me is fascinated by the threads of science, theory, and symbolism that go into designing and building schools.  Like most preservationists, I am a strong believer that the power of place plays a central role in shaping our experiences, attitudes, and values.  The tangible aspects of a school’s ‘power of place’ include its architectural style, materials, dimensions, and floor plan.  Taken together, these character-defining features often reflect a community’s wealth, prominence, and aspirations for their children.  In Philadelphia, schools from the mid-19th century to pre-World War II period fit into this category, regardless of their location in large or small, rich or poor neighborhoods.  After World War II, the character of many of Philadelphia’s public schools shifted, and the school buildings communicate a rigid, institutional personality that is markedly different from the schools only a few decades older. Continue reading

Eliza Kirkbride School, Philadelphia
The Kirkbride school in the 1500 block of S. 7th Street at the south edge of Center City was listed in the National Register in 1988 as a good example of a Late Gothic Revival school by the school district’s architect, Irwin T. Catharine. This school is one of 114 listed in the National Register through the first historic context prepared for Philadelphia public schools in the 1980s.

School Daze

December 3, 2014 / / 2 Comments

No, this isn’t a review of Spike Lee’s 1988 movie.  I’m referring to my state of mind when I think about all of the work I’ve done with public schools in Philadelphia over the past few months.

As you may remember from this post, I joined BHP in July and my first assignment was to complete the survey component of a larger project to document Philadelphia elementary and secondary public schools of all types, styles, and dates.  I had a good start on the survey work thanks to the headway my predecessor made in 2013 by assembling lists and survey maps, which are organized by zip code.  My school daze started when I realized that there were about 300 public schools that qualified for this reconnaissance-level survey.  And, even more intimidating, that 205 still needed to be surveyed before school started on September 8th!  Continue reading

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