Merced County High School, also known as the County Library Building, is a historic building located at 2125 M St. in

Merced Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. Built in 1897, the school was the first public high school in Merced County. The brick and wood building was designed in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revival style incorporates 11th and 12th century southern French, Spanish, and Italian Romanesque ...

style and featured a

hip 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 cross gables, a rounded entry, windows arranged in a ribbon patter, and a since-removed wooden tower. The school's brick exterior was later plastered over and its roof painted red, giving the building a

Mission Revival The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

appearance. The building served as a high school until 1920; in the following year, the county library moved into the building, where it remained until 1976. Merced County High School 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 ...

on May 31, 1984.

References

External links

* School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in California Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in California Romanesque Revival architecture in California School buildings completed in 1897 Buildings and structures in Merced, California Education in Merced County, California Educational institutions disestablished in 1920 National Register of Historic Places in Merced County, California {{California-school-stub