Bourne High School (old building)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bourne High School
National Register of Historic Places
The school building in 2016

The school building in 2016

Bourne High School (old building) (Massachusetts)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
location Bourne , Massachusetts , United States
Coordinates 41 ° 44 ′ 31 ″  N , 70 ° 35 ′ 41 ″  W Coordinates: 41 ° 44 ′ 31 ″  N , 70 ° 35 ′ 41 ″  W
surface 7.77  acres (3.1  hectares )
Built 1905 (school building) ,
1934 (gym)
architect Parker & Thomas, SW Haynes Associates
Architectural style Colonial Revival
NRHP number 13000035
The NRHP added February 27, 2013

Under the name of Bourne High School is a built in the early 20th century school building is Bourne in the state of Massachusetts of the United States in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) entered. The Kempton J. Coady Junior High School was located there from 1960 until it was transferred to the Waldorf School of Cape Cod in 1990 .

description

The building stands on 7.77  acres (3.1  hectares ) within the historic Bourne city center known as Bourne Village . On the neighboring property there are residential buildings as well as a Methodist church , the Jonathan Bourne Historical Center, which is housed in the former Jonathan Bourne Public Library , which is also registered in the NRHP , the local post office and the modern new building of Bourne High School. The entry in the NRHP includes the main building with the attached gym as well as other objects rated as contributing to the relevance, such as a wall and a flagpole. Other properties on the property, such as a baseball field and warehouse, were found not to be relevant.

architecture

Outdoor areas

The structure is a well-preserved example of the Colonial Revival style . The two-story main building was designed and built in 1905 by the architects Parker & Thomas, and a gymnasium was added in 1934. While the main building has a steep hipped roof , the gym has a side gable roof . Both roofs are with shingles made of asphalt covered. The buildings were built from red bricks in a stretcher bond (every sixth row in the Flemish Association ) and rest on a concrete foundation. The main building has a rectangular floor plan and is connected on its south side by a two-story connecting wing with the gymnasium, on the west side of which a one-story extension houses a stage.

Indoor areas

main building

In the main building there is a central hall on both floors with two classrooms on either side. The levels are connected by a staircase that has been completely preserved in the original. A recessed vestibule serves as the main entrance on the ground floor, and a library is located just above it on the first floor.

The interior walls are plastered white and have wooden baseboards and, for the most part, a wooden decorative molding at a height of around 6  ft (1.8  m ). The floors in the corridors are covered with terrazzo tiles, in the classrooms there is mostly linoleum . The ceilings are either suspended or covered with asbestos tiles. The heating system, lights and pipes are state-of-the-art. While most of the radiators are uncovered, in the eastern classrooms on the ground floor they have been fitted with covers in the style of streamlined modernism .

Connecting wing

The two-storey connecting wing extends south from the main building to the gymnasium and has a central, full-length corridor on both levels , which is separated from the main building by steel doors for fire protection reasons. The walls of the corridor are about 1.8 m high covered with imitation tiles. At the southern end there are contemporary toilets and drinking fountains on both floors. Ornaments are placed above the fountain, showing an owl on the ground floor and an oil lamp on the first floor; both are symbols for scientific knowledge. The school's side entrance is located on the east side of the ground floor across from an office wing with six rooms.

On the upper floor of the connecting wing, there are two classrooms on each side of the corridor, of which the one above the offices is the largest in the school and the only one with carpeting. There is also a greenhouse that protrudes from the building on the west side.

gym

At the southern end of the connecting wing is the two-story gymnasium, which is laid out in an east-west direction. The brick walls are clad in wood towards the floor, the vaulted roof is clad with asbestos tiles. The floor consists of treated wooden planks. At the western end of the hall there is a stage in an extension that can be reached via a staircase on each side. There is a large entrance area on the east side that leads to Cotuit Road.

Historical meaning

Development of the public school system in Massachusetts

In 1789, a law was passed in Massachusetts that for the first time allowed the establishment of local school districts and thus enabled the development of a public school system. Schools were previously only required in communities with 50 or more families, and some larger cities also had a grammar school . The new school districts led to a finer subdivision of the communities and gave families the right to participate in the selection of teachers and the curriculum as well as the construction of school buildings and their maintenance. The decentralization of school administration reached its peak in 1828, when the school districts had all the powers except the certification of teachers.

However, the efficiency of the administration suffered as a result, which led to efforts to centralize the school system again. In 1837, Massachusetts was the first state in the United States to set up a central school board ( English Board of Education ) to introduce the necessary reforms and establish overarching standards. This led to the establishment of the United States' first unified, tax-funded public school system . The reforms included the introduction of graded schools according to educational level, the establishment of school libraries, uniform curricula and improved school buildings.

On June 29, 1837, Horace Mann was elected first secretary of the Board of Education . His notable successes include the introduction of normal schools to establish norms and standards in teaching. In addition, desired standards were published by Mann in annual publications, which were widely used. Horace Mann also devoted himself to the conception of school buildings, which previously consisted for the most part of just a single room, in which all students were taught. In addition to a new room layout, his considerations also included ventilation and heating systems, furniture, school locations and the design of schoolyards and playgrounds.

Due to the advancing industrialization , many schools were overcrowded in the middle of the 19th century - especially in previously rural, but now increasingly densely populated areas. To alleviate this, the schools were graduated and the first intermediate schools were introduced; between 1860 and 1875 a total of 90 high schools were established. The increasing number of pupils combined with graduated classes and the introduction of high schools led to a growing need for larger and safer school buildings. High schools quickly became the local flagships of education.

Introduction of the new school system in Bourne

Today's Bourne was originally part of the Sandwich founded in 1637 . It is not known when the first school was founded in Sandwich, but there is a document from 1677 in which a school principal is appointed for several locations. In 1713 the city administration allowed certain families to build schools at their own expense, which immediately led to the establishment of several school districts. Between 1790 and 1830, the population of Sandwich increased by 68% - mainly due to the establishment of a glass factory near the city - so that there were ten school districts in 1804 and twelve in 1813. At least four school buildings were in the part of town that is now part of Bourne.

In 1857 the city had no fewer than 23 school districts. In this system, the district board members decided ( English District Committees ) on maintenance, new construction and guidelines for schools, so that the quality of the facilities was very different. In 1863, the city government adopted the state's new laws and introduced centralized funding and control of the public education system, reducing the number of school districts and building larger school buildings, including the first central high school, the Sandwich Academy .

In 1884, long struggles for independence led to the split from Bourne with 1,390 inhabitants. The new city was divided into eight Villages with Cataumet, North Pocasset, Monument Beach , Bourne, Buzzards Bay , Head-of-the-Bay, Bournedale and Sagamore , each with its own school district. In the first year after the city was founded, 223 pupils between the ages of 5 and 15 were registered. Secondary high schools were only available in Sandwich or Middleborough.

On September 14, 1885, an enlarged school building in Buzzards Bay was opened as the first Bourne High School, starting with a teacher and 30 students. When the first five students graduated from high school in 1887, the building was enlarged again and a second teacher was hired. As early as 1901, the existing school buildings were no longer able to cope with the growing population of Bourne, and the city sought financial support from the state for corresponding new buildings. However, this should only be given to schools that have been open at least 36 weeks per year, successfully preparing their students for college , and employing at least two full-time teachers.

At the same time, progressive reforms were discussed for the existing schools, which in 1903 included an "admittedly radical" proposal to merge the schools in Monument Beach, Buzzards Bay and Bourne into a single building. Finally, a committee (consisting of Aaron C. Swift, Mary E. Nye, Chester S. Wright, Walter ER Nye, Reuben L. Burgess, S. Henry Perry, and Moses C. Waterhouse) was set up to consolidate the schools as well as the choice of location for new school buildings.

Bourne High School construction

Bourne was one of the first Cape Cod communities to put the new ideas into practice. In 1904 it was decided to build a new high school, for which 20,000 US dollars (this corresponds to the current equivalent of about 591,500 dollars) were made available. The new location was determined by an extraordinary community meeting at Bourne Village on Sandwich Road. Several people whose land was needed were paid a total of $ 2,890 in compensation for the construction of the school (around $ 85,470 today).

Bourne Village is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Bourne. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the site grew into an economic center with popular residential areas, and many streets that still exist today were laid out during this period, including Sandwich Road. The district was the largest in the city at the time of the split from Sandwich and was home to many wealthy citizens, which is why it was chosen as the administrative center for Bourne. In 1897 the city government offices moved to the eastern rooms of the Jonathan Bourne Public Library . On September 11, 1905, the new Bourne High School opened with 63 high school students upstairs and 41 middle school students downstairs. Shortly afterwards, Moses C. Waterhouse, as chairman of the school building committee, donated the clock on the front gable.

Further developments in the 20th century

With the opening of Bourne High School, the city began a new era in education. The grouping of previously independent schools in a common building was implemented in other states at the beginning of the 20th century after Theodore Roosevelt had set up a national committee for the improvement of life in the country ( National Commission on Country Life ) in 1908 . This issued appropriate recommendations, and by 1925 numerous books on the subject appeared.

Especially after the opening of the Cape Cod Canal in 1914, the population of Bourne continued to grow. With the advent of the automobile in the 1920s and 1930s, the mobility of the population increased many times over, and many residents of Boston and other regional centers were now able to reach Cape Cod relatively quickly and easily, which led to further growth in Bourne. At the same time, there was no need to set up schools within walking distance of the students, as school buses could now also go to schools that were further away. Accordingly, more new, larger and modern school buildings were built and the old schools with only one classroom were gradually closed. In 1925, Bourne Grammar School opened across from Bourne High School to relieve the crowded building and teach grades 1 through 8 students.

The Bourne High School building was regularly repaired and improved, including the installation of internal drinking fountains, a widening of the access path to the main entrance in 1912 and the creation of a playground in 1913. In 1923, Kempton J. Coady became the new principal and asked immediately the installation of electric light, which was finally implemented in 1925. In 1927 a new entrance to the dining room was added, and in 1930 a new heating system was installed. In the late 1920s, the flagpole , which is now assessed as contributing to the historical relevance of the school building and therefore also registered in the NRHP, was erected.

Despite the outsourcing of the Grammar School, the Bourne High School building could not cope with the steadily growing number of students; While 140 students attended the high school in 1930, there were 198 in 1933. Before the building could be expanded, a fire broke out in the laboratory area on the first floor on the morning of June 8, 1934, but did not cause permanent damage and only a few days Lessons were canceled. Despite the Great Depression prevailing in the US at the time , the city decided to add a gym in addition to repairing the fire damage. Fitchburg- based architecture firm SW Haynes Associates worked out the corresponding construction plans , while TL Cottrell from West Dennis carried out the repairs and LM Witherell & Son from Taunton carried out the construction of the gym, after the local school committee modified and simplified the original construction plans with the aim of optimizing costs would have. In 1952 the gym was named after Dr. George Dainty, who was school doctor from 1914 to 1927 and chairman of the school committee from 1921 to 1951.

In the late 1930s was followed by further transformations of the immediate surroundings of the school building, including through the establishment of a still existent and also in the NRHP as a contributing resource registered retaining wall . The population of Bourne continued to grow, mainly due to the good connection to US Highway 6 and Massachusetts Route 28 and the establishment of the Camp Edwards military base in 1937. Therefore, on January 23, 1961, a new and larger building for the high school was opened on Waterhouse Road, initially with 523 students. A junior high school was moved to the old building and renamed Kempton J. Coady Junior High School in 1973 .

In 1968, 4,625 students were registered in Bourne, who were spread across nine school buildings. In the 1970s, a baseball field was built on the site of the old high school in place of the former playground . With the reduction in staff at Camp Edwards, the number of students in the city also fell, so that in 1981 the Bourne Grammar School had to be closed due to insufficient registration numbers. In 1990, Coady Junior High School closed. However, the baseball field on the site was very popular and therefore expanded. In 1992 the school building was leased from the private Waldorf School of Cape Cod .

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ National Register Information System . In: National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service . Retrieved April 15, 2008.
  2. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 5.
  3. ↑ cf. Jones et al., P. 6.
  4. ↑ cf. Jones et al., P. 7.
  5. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 8.
  6. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 9.
  7. ↑ a b c d cf. Jones et al., P. 13.
  8. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 14.
  9. ↑ cf. Jones et al., Pp. 14f.
  10. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 15.
  11. ↑ cf. Jones et al., Pp. 15 f.
  12. ↑ cf. Jones et al., P. 16.
  13. ↑ a b c cf. Jones et al., P. 17.
  14. ↑ a b cf. Jones et al., P. 18.
  15. ↑ cf. Jones et al., P. 19.