The elementary school
- Smithsonian number
- 10RC100
- IHSI number
- 41-46371
- Address
- 505 E. Garnet
- Construction
- circa 1970
- National Register
- Not eligible
- Inventory status
- In progress
Description
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
Overview
10RC100 is a multi-part educational resource composed of connected sections built during several periods. The resource includes the 1938 Works Progress Administration Rural Idaho Grade School, later one-story wings associated with the elementary school, cafeteria and service areas, connecting additions, and associated playground and circulation spaces. Historic records date successive school wings to 1960, 1978, and 1981. Differences in height, massing, exterior materials, windows, roof forms, and entrances distinguish the principal construction phases. The available records do not assign each construction date to a specific present-day wing.
1938 WPA-era section
The oldest identified section is a substantial rectangular school building completed in 1938 through the Works Progress Administration. The 1988 survey records its exterior materials as “cement and stucco.” Current photographs show a stuccoed exterior, but the underlying structural system has not been confirmed.
The building has a flat roof, a raised central entrance bay, a prominent chimney, and broad classroom elevations divided by shallow pilaster-like projections. The principal entrance is reached by concrete steps and contains paired doors within a restrained geometric surround. Horizontal bands and recessed panels ornament the otherwise plain stuccoed walls. Grouped windows extend along the classroom elevations, while smaller openings and vents occur near the base. A cast-metal Works Progress Administration plaque records the federal program and the 1938 construction date.
Later elementary-school sections
Historic survey records state that the first wing was completed in 1960, the second in 1978, and the third in 1981. The available records do not identify which present-day wing corresponds to each date.
The later sections are chiefly one-story, low-profile buildings with irregular rectangular plans, shallow or nearly flat roofs, and concrete-block walls. Exterior walls range from painted light-colored block to exposed tan and reddish-brown masonry. Broad metal fascias, now painted blue, emphasize the horizontal rooflines.
Windows occur as individual rectangular units, grouped classroom windows, horizontal bands, and large glass-block panels. Recessed entrances, projecting canopies, masonry piers, covered passages, and paved walkways connect the different sections. The principal elementary-school entrance is marked by a broad projecting canopy supported by masonry piers and applied lettering identifying the elementary school. Classroom, office, and service sections extend around paved circulation and playground areas.
Cafeteria, service, and connecting sections
The cafeteria and service portions are low rectangular concrete-block volumes with shallow roofs and limited window openings. Covered entrances, narrow passages, paved walks, and changes in roof height connect these portions to adjoining school sections.
The junctions between the 1938 building and later construction document the incremental expansion of the elementary-school complex. Changes in wall plane, roof height, materials, window patterns, and entrance treatments make the additions visually distinguishable from the 1938 section.
The available records document school-wing construction in 1960, 1978, and 1981 but do not establish the construction date or original function of every present connecting, cafeteria, and service section.
Playground and setting
Paved walks, lawns, service drives, courtyards, and playground areas occupy the spaces between and around the building sections. The playground includes paved activity areas, basketball equipment, and a painted map of the United States. These outdoor spaces help explain the organization and continued educational use of the resource.
The 1938 section maintains a formal relationship to East Garnet Avenue through its setback, lawn, entrance walk, and stepped principal approach. Later wings, paved areas, and connecting walks reflect the continued development of the school campus.
VISIBLE ALTERATIONS
Visible alterations include replacement exterior doors and windows, modified or infilled window openings, applied metal fascias and trim, accessibility improvements, surface-mounted mechanical and electrical equipment, and connecting additions. Some masonry and exterior surfaces have been painted.
Historic correspondence documents a proposed lighting-upgrade project in 2011, although the available records do not establish which present fixtures, if any, resulted from that work.
The additions altered the original building’s plan and its relationship to the surrounding grounds. Despite later additions and replacement features, the 1938 section remains visually identifiable through its massing, raised entrance bay, stuccoed exterior, geometric ornament, grouped window openings, chimney, and WPA plaque.
INTEGRITY OBSERVATIONS
The resource remains at its documented location and continues in educational use. Its setting retains lawns, walks, paved circulation areas, and playground spaces, although successive construction has changed the arrangement of the site.
The 1938 section retains its overall form, entrance composition, chimney, portions of its stuccoed exterior treatment, geometric ornament, and pattern of grouped classroom openings. Replacement windows and doors, connecting additions, accessibility improvements, applied finishes, and mechanical installations have affected aspects of its design, materials, and workmanship.
The difference between the 1938 section and later construction remains visible in the complex’s massing, materials, roof forms, window patterns, and entrances. These distinctions help convey the resource’s development as a public school campus. A final assessment of National Register integrity would require a defined period of significance and evaluation of the seven aspects of integrity: location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association.
OBSERVED CHARACTER-DEFINING FEATURES
Whole resource
- Continued educational use and visual identity as an elementary-school complex
- Connected construction phases dating from 1938, 1960, 1978, and 1981
- Visible distinctions in height, massing, materials, windows, entrances, and roof forms
- Physical connections between the WPA-era school and later classroom, office, cafeteria, and service sections
- Courtyards, covered passages, paved walks, lawns, service drives, and playground spaces
- Spatial relationship between the school buildings and outdoor activity areas
1938 WPA-era section
- 1938 Works Progress Administration plaque
- Rectangular massing
- Flat roof
- Raised and emphasized central entrance bay
- Stuccoed exterior
- Restrained geometric wall ornament
- Horizontal bands and recessed panels
- Shallow pilaster-like wall divisions
- Grouped classroom window openings
- Prominent chimney
- Stepped principal entrance approach
- Formal relationship to East Garnet Avenue
Later elementary-school sections
- One-story horizontal massing
- Shallow and nearly flat roof forms
- Concrete-block walls in contrasting colors and textures
- Broad horizontal metal fascias
- Grouped and banded classroom windows
- Large glass-block panels
- Recessed entrances and projecting canopies
- Masonry entrance piers
- Covered passages and connections between wings
- Low cafeteria and service volumes integrated with the school complex
- Visible distinctions among successive additions
- Organization of wings around paved circulation and playground areas
SOURCE AND INTERPRETIVE NOTES
- The 1988 Idaho State Historic Preservation Office reconnaissance form identifies the historic property as Rural Idaho Grade School at 205 E. Garnet Avenue.
- The 1988 form records construction in 1938 by the Works Progress Administration and describes the exterior materials as “cement and stucco.”
- The same form records completion of the first wing in 1960, the second wing in 1978, and the third wing in 1981.
- A later Idaho Historic Sites Inventory form identifies Rural Idaho Grade School as the property name and the elementary school as the other name.
- The later inventory form records field number 88-C-372 and Idaho Historic Sites Inventory number 41-46371.
- A February 1990 reconnaissance form separately records the elementary school as a circa-1970 concrete-block building at 505 E. Garnet Avenue.
- The 1607 address conflicts with the 1988 survey, the later inventory form, and 2011 correspondence, all of which use 205 E. Garnet Avenue. The current record should use 205 E. Garnet Avenue unless further research establishes otherwise.
- The circa-1970 date on the 1990 form appears to characterize the later elementary-school construction generally. The more specific 1960, 1978, and 1981 wing dates should be retained.
- SHPO determined the property not eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places on May 4, 2011. That determination is part of the property’s survey history and does not substitute for a current evaluation.
- Current photographs confirm the survival of a Works Progress Administration plaque dated 1938.
- The available records do not assign the 1960, 1978, and 1981 construction dates to specific present-day wings.
- Camera-direction suffixes in the photograph filenames record the direction faced by the camera, not necessarily the orientation of the photographed elevation.
Photographs
