The Fourth Ward School is an historic 4-story

mansard 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 ...

-roofed former public

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

building located at 537 South "C" Street in

Virginia City, Nevada Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno– Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area. Virginia City developed as a boom ...

. Designed in 1876 by architect C. M. Bennett in the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

style of architecture, it originally held over 1000 students in grades 1 though 9 divided into three departments: ''primary ''(grades 1 though 4); ''second grammar'' (grades 5 though 7) and ''high school'' (grades 8 and 9). Grades 10 through 12 were added by 1909. It graduated its last class in 1936, after which its students were moved to a new school built by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The building then fell into disrepair and remained closed until 1986 when it was reopened as the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum. The museum features exhibits of city history, 19th-century education, Mark Twain’s life, area mining and a letter printing press. The Fourth Ward School is a contributing property in the Virginia City Historic District which was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1961 and 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 ...

in 1966.

References

External links

Official websiteHistoric Marker Data Base listing for Fourth Ward School
* {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Virginia City, Nevada 1876 establishments in Nevada School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Nevada Education museums in the United States History museums in Nevada Museums in Virginia City, Nevada Historic American Buildings Survey in Nevada Historic district contributing properties in Nevada National Register of Historic Places in Storey County, Nevada Neoclassical architecture in Nevada Second Empire architecture in Nevada Works Progress Administration in Nevada