The Main Building of Torrance High School is located on the campus in Torrance, southwestern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

., Nomination for the National Register of Historic Places, dated February 1983 . accessed 2.28.2016. The Main Building was opened to students as Torrance School in 1917.

History

On opening the "Main Building" in 1917, Torrance School accommodated both elementary and high school students in its first building. In 1923, with the opening of the new elementary school for kindergarten through sixth grade students, Torrance School was renamed Torrance High School. Torrance elementary schools were in the

Los Angeles City School District The Los Angeles City School District was a school district that served Los Angeles, California, and some adjoining areas between 1870 and 1961. History The district was formed on May 2, 1870, with the same boundaries as the city of Los Angeles. In ...

until 1947, when they transferred to a new Torrance school district. In 1947 Torrance high schools moved to the Redondo Union High School District and then became a part of the modern Torrance Unified School District in 1948. - The article states "

Los Angeles UnifIed School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district ...

" but the Los Angeles schools were not yet unified into a single school district
as this happened in 1961

Architecture

The Main Building, built in 1917, was the first building on the campus, then known as the Torrance School and serving all grades. It is a two-story structure designed in the Mediterranean Revival style, and has architectural elements in the

Classical Revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

and Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The central two-story section is flanked by one-story wings, which all frame an outdoor

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary ...

patio A patio (, from es, patio ; "courtyard", "forecourt", "yard", "little garden") is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia the term is expanded to include roofed stru ...

. The main entrance is the dominant element of the building's facade. It consists of a set of layered elements: a large pediment with a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, a cofferred arch, a flat window with pediment above, a large arched fanlight, and a flat doorway portal. The doorway is flanked by paired columns. A rear addition was built in 1922, in the same style. In 1923, after the Torrance Elementary School was built on the campus, the original Torrance School Main Building was converted into a high school. The elementary school building was annexed to the high school in 1963, and was renamed the Torrance High School Annex building.

National Register of Historic Places

The Main Building was listed on 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 ...

in 1983. The Main Building is one of four on the Torrance High School campus listed on the NRHP, the other buildings are: * Auditorium—Assembly Hall (1938) * Home Economics Building (1923) * Torrance High School Annex (1923−1925), originally Torrance Elementary School.

References

External links

{{Clear Torrance High, 1917 School buildings completed in 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High School 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High School

History

Architecture

National Register of Historic Places

See also

References

External links