The Fifth Ward School, also known as the Monsarrat School, is a 19th-century, three-story brick building located on 5th and York streets in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, United States. Over the years the building has served as a school, a hospital, a dormitory, a library, and a museum, and is currently occupied by apartments. It is listed in 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 ...

History

The original Fifth Ward School was completed in 1854. It burned down the next year, and the architect

Isaiah Rogers Isaiah Rogers (August 17, 1800 – April 13, 1869) was an American architect from Massachusetts who eventually moved his practice south, where he was based in Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio. He completed numerous designs for hotels, ...

was contracted to rebuild the school. The result, the current building in modified

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style, was completed in 1857. The school later came to be known as the Monsarrat School, after its first principal, Laura Lucas Monsarrat. The Fifth Ward School would serve three hundred children annually. During the Civil War it served as a hospital. During World War II, the building became a dormitory for soldiers. From 1937 to 1951, the Monsarrat School was used to operate the Free Public Library and Museum, on loan from the Board of Education. This was due to the flood of 1937 that damaged the

Louisville Free Public Library The Louisville Free Public Library (LFPL) is the public library system in Louisville, Kentucky, and the largest public library system in the U.S. state of Kentucky. History Formation The Louisville Free Public Library was created in 1902 by an a ...

building. The museum was located on the first floor. Visitors had to pack into the small museum location until a new one could be afforded. On May 20, 1940, the library on York Street reopened; however, the museum continued on at the Monsarrat for another 37 years. In 1977, the museum was relocated to downtown, where it is now known as the

Kentucky Science Center The Kentucky Science Center, previously known as the Louisville Museum of Natural History & Science and then Louisville Science Center, is Kentucky's largest science museum. Located in Louisville, Kentucky, on "Museum Row" in the West Main Distr ...

. In the 1980s the Monsarrat building was transformed into upscale apartments.

References

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History of the Monserrat Building. (n.d.).
retrieved April 30, 2017 National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Renaissance Revival architecture in Kentucky 1857 establishments in Kentucky School buildings completed in 1857 Defunct schools in Louisville, Kentucky Apartment buildings in Louisville, Kentucky