The Welch Training School, also known as the Welch School, is a historic school building at 495 Congress Street in
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...
. Built in 1883, it is a good example of
Queen Anne architecture
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the ...
as applied to school buildings, and was the city's first
teacher training school. 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 1983.
[ The building now houses a substance abuse clinic.
]
Description and history
The former Welch Training School building is located west of downtown New Haven, at the northwest corner of Congress and Vernon Streets in The Hill neighborhood. It is a -story masonry structure, built out of red brick with stone trim, and covered by a slate mansard roof
A mansard or mansard roof (also called a French roof or curb roof) is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterised by two slopes on each of its sides, with the lower slope, punctured by dormer windows, at a steeper angle than the upper. The ...
. Gabled dormers of varying styles and configurations adorn the roof faces, and a four-story gabled entry section projects at the center of the main facade. Windows are set in rectangular openings with sandstone sills and lintels, and sandstone stringcourses give horizontal emphasis to the design.[ and ]
The school, completed in 1883, was designed by Leoni W. Robinson
Leoni W. Robinson (1851-1923) was a leading architect in New Haven, Connecticut.
Life and career
Leoni Warren Robinson was born September 26, 1851, in New Haven, Connecticut, to Warren Robinson, a builder, and Sarah Howard (Woodward) Robinson. ...
and is a good local example of Queen Anne architecture
The Queen Anne style of British architecture refers to either the English Baroque architecture of the time of Queen Anne (who reigned from 1702 to 1714) or the British Queen Anne Revival form that became popular during the last quarter of the ...
. It was named for Harmonus Welch, the city's first president of the board of education, and later also Mayor of New Haven. The school was designed to provide a space where new teachers could be trained, in order to address a shortage of qualified teachers in the city's school system. In its early programs, trainee teachers were paired with other teachers to learn teaching methods, before being sent for further hands-on training to other schools. The school's function for teacher training was ended in 1893, when the Skinner School opened as a proper normal school
A normal school or normal college is an institution created to Teacher education, train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high s ...
, and this one then became a regular elementary school. It was closed in the mid-1970s.
See also
*
References
{{National Register of Historic Places
School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut
Queen Anne architecture in Connecticut
School buildings completed in 1883
Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut
National Register of Historic Places in New Haven, Connecticut