The South School is a historic school building at 362 South Main Street in

Torrington, Connecticut Torrington is the most populated municipality and only city in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut and the Northwest Hills (Connecticut), Northwest Hills region. It is also the core city of Greater Torrington, one of the ...

. It is a

Beaux Arts architecture Beaux-Arts architecture ( , ) was the academic architectural style taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, particularly from the 1830s to the end of the 19th century. It drew upon the principles of French neoclassicism, but also incorpora ...

building, designed by

Wilson Potter Wilson Potter (died 1936) was a New York City-based architect. A number of his works are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. His office was at 3 Union Square before moving to larger space at 22 East 17th Street in 1918. Works inc ...

and completed in 1915. It 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 v ...

in 1986. It is significant as a well-preserved example of the work of Potter, a New York City-based designer of schools throughout the Northeastern United States, and as a prototype for other schools built in Torrington. and The building has been renovated for use as residential apartments. In 2010, a sign describes it as "South School Garden View Apartments".

Description and history

The South School is located in a mixed residential-commercial area south of downtown Torrington, at the southwest corner of South Main Street and Brooker Street. It is a large two-story brick building, with a flat roof, granite foundation, and terra cotta trim. The basement is elevated, with a stringcourse of trim separating it from the main levels. The main facade is broadly divided into three sections, with a central section with bands of sash windows flanked by a slightly projecting end sections with blank walls adorned by patterned brick and trim. The corners of the end sections have brick quoining, and the building is topped by a low parapet with wide stepped crenellations highlighted by a terra cotta border. The main entrance is set at the center of the basement level, in a richly decorated segmented-arch surround. The school was built in 1915 to a design by Wilson Potter, a prominent New York City architect known for his school designs; Potter was also credited with the design of the 1914 Torrington High School, now much altered and no longer the high school. This building was the first large-scale elementary school for the city, and served as a prototype for schools it built through the 1930s. The building was used as a school until 1981.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut Beaux-Arts architecture in Connecticut School buildings completed in 1915 Buildings and structures in Torrington, Connecticut National Register of Historic Places in Litchfield County, Connecticut 1915 establishments in Connecticut

Description and history

See also

References