Old Crawfordsville High School is a former

public high school State schools (in England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand) or public schools (Scottish English and North American English) are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in pa ...

erected in 1910 on East Jefferson Street in Crawfordsville,

Montgomery County, Indiana Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana. As of the 2020 United States census, it had a population of 37,936. Its county seat is Crawfordsville. The county is divided into eleven townships which provide local services. Montgo ...

. It was a part of the Crawfordsville Community Schools. The old building was expanded in 1914, 1921, and 1941 to provide additional classrooms, an auditorium, and a gymnasium. A new Crawfordsville High School facility opened at One Athenian Drive in 1993. In 2000 the old school building was converted to a multi-use facility of offices, residential housing, and a fitness center. The former high school building was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2003. The former high school became a senior living facility and in 2019 was converted into 99 apartment units called The Laurel Flats.

History

The Old Crawfordsville High School was located on East Jefferson Street in Crawfordsville, the seat of government for

. It served as the town's high school from 1911 to 1993. The building was converted to mixed-use facility in 2000 and added to the

in 2003. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. A new Crawfordsville High School at One Athenian Drive opened in the fall of 1993.

Central School

Crawfordsville's Central School was constructed on what was known as Jefferson Square, bounded by Jefferson, College, Seminary, and School streets, for $44,000 in 1873. Before additional grade schools were constructed, the brick school building accommodated students in all grades. Robert Krout, the local school board president, delivered a commencement address on the subject of

women's equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

to the first graduating class of ten students graduated in 1877. (Krout was the father of feminist authors

Mary Hannah Krout Mary Hannah Krout (November 3, 1851 – May 31, 1927) was an American journalist, author, and advocate for women's suffrage. Early years and education Mary Hannah Krout was born November 3, 1851 in Crawfordsville, Indiana to Robert Kennedy and Car ...

and

Caroline Virginia Krout Caroline Virginia Krout (c. 1852–1931) was an American writer. She was born in Balhinch, near Crawfordsville, Indiana, in about1852. She wrote several novels and a collection of short stories under the pen name Caroline Brown. In addition to b ...

, who would later teach at the school.) An addition to the twelve-room, three-story school was completed in 1880. By 1880 Central School had become overcrowded and additional schools were built to accommodate the increasing enrollment. In addition, a fire in 1882 required Central School to be renovated. Construction began on a new high school in 1910 and Central School was demolished around 1919.

Former Crawfordsville High School

In 1910 construction began on a new school on the Central School's property along Jefferson Street. The new building became known as Crawfordsville High School. The following year, 1911, the boys'

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

team won the first

Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament The Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, organized by the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA), is one of the oldest state high school basketball tournament in America. The tournament has often featured future NCAA and Nation ...

. In 1914 the high school was remodeled to include the extension of wings on either side of the main building. Construction work began in 1919 to add more classrooms and a 2,500-seat auditorium to the school. (The old Central School building was demolished to provide space for the auditorium addition.) In 1941 a Works Projects Administration project included the construction of eight classrooms and a gymnasium on the south side of the school. The Class of 1921 was the first to receive their high school diplomas in the new auditorium. The Class of 1976 became the high school's 100th graduating class.Cline, p. 177. In 1993 classes moved to a new Crawfordsville High School facility at One Athenian Drive, along State Road 47, near the city's southwest corner.

Mixed-use facility

In 2000 the school building on East Jefferson Street was converted into offices, a fitness center that incorporates the school's 1939 gymnasium, one- and two-bedroom residential units, and spaces for other uses. The former high school was added into the

in 2003.

Description

The

Prairie School Prairie School is a late 19th- and early 20th-century architectural style, most common in the Midwestern United States. The style is usually marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, windows grouped in ...

-style school, designed by the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

architectural firm of

Patton and Miller Patton & Miller was an architectural firm of Chicago, Illinois. Normand Smith Patton and Grant C. Miller designed over 100 Carnegie libraries nationwide, including Buffalo Township Public Library, built in 1894, and 14 more in Illinois.Schnell ...

, faces north on Jefferson Street. The two-story, symmetrical-plan building on a raised basement has "cross-

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope (although a tented roof by definition is a hipped roof with steeply pitched slopes rising to a peak). Thus, ...

" with "overhanging

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

" and wing additions extending on its east and west sides. The brick building's original roof was covered in

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, a ...

tiles, later replaced with

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

shingles. The main entrance to the building is centered on the north elevation; the gymnasium projects from the south end of the main building. Other entrances are located on the east, south, and west sides of the school. Most of the building's windows have single openings. Brick

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s on limestone bases vertically divide the exterior of the building. A canopy is suspended over the main entrance. A stone panel above the entrance canopy reads, "A.D. * High School * 1910" and the word "Gymnasium" is carved above the gym's entrances. Interior staircases from the main floor lead to the basement and two upper floors. Classrooms and school offices have been converted into residential units. The auditorium's audience space has been converted to offices; however, its two-story

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

and gallery have been retained. The gymnasium also retains many of its original features, including its wooden basketball floor, wood and cast-iron bench seats, scoreboards, and two locker rooms. The gymnasium's basement level has been subdivided and modified; it includes a lap pool and whirlpool tub.

Notable alumni

Joseph P. Allen Joseph Percival "Joe" Allen IV (born June 27, 1937) is a former NASA astronaut. He logged more than 3,000 hours flying time in jet aircraft. Early life and education Allen was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on June 27, 1937. His parents, Mr. ...

Joseph Stephen Crane Joseph Stephenson "Steve" Crane (February 7, 1916 – February 6, 1985) was an American actor and restaurateur. A Columbia Pictures actor in the early 1940s, Crane opened the Luau, a popular celebrity restaurant, in 1953 and established a s ...

Linda Evans Linda Evans (born Linda Evenstad; November 18, 1942) is an American actress known primarily for her roles on television. In the 1960s she played Audra Barkley, the daughter of Victoria Barkley (played by Barbara Stanwyck) in the Western tel ...

Ward Lambert Ward Louis "Piggy" Lambert (May 28, 1888 – January 20, 1958) was an American basketball and baseball coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Purdue University during the 1916–17 season and from 1918 to 1946. Lambert was also the head ...

Kenyon Nicholson Kenyon Nicholson (May 21, 1894 – December 19, 1986) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Early life John Kenyon Nicholson was born in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on May 21, 1894, the oldest son of Thomas B. and Anne (Kenyon) Nichols ...

* Robert E. Vaughan *

Maurine Dallas Watkins Maurine Dallas Watkins (July 27, 1896? – August 10, 1969) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Early in her career, she briefly worked as a journalist covering the courthouse beat for the ''Chicago Tribune''. This experience gave her th ...

Notes

References

* * * * * *

External links

Crawfordsville High School

''The First Indiana Basketball Tournament Champions 1911 Crawfordsville High School''
S. Chandler Lighty, Indiana Historical Bureau {{Authority control Public high schools in Indiana School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana School buildings completed in 1910 Prairie School architecture in Indiana Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Montgomery County, Indiana 1873 establishments in Indiana

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...