The Lincoln School is a historic school building located in

Belle Fourche Belle Fourche (; ) is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 5,617 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 5,873 in 2023, making it the 18th most populous city in South Dakota. It is ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

History

The Lincoln School was built in 1919 as part of a statewide school building standardization program. This initiative aimed to replace the small, timber-framed, rural schoolhouses with larger, rectangular buildings, often built of stone or brick. The W. W. Beach Company of

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, was contracted to carry out construction. With By the 1950s, the state was already looking to replace the school, which was far too small to meet the growing local education demands; in 1953, state surveys estimated Lincoln School was operating 68% over capacity. The school shut down in the 1960s and served as office space. It was purchased for use as a single-family dwelling in the 1990s and remains so today.

Architecture

Lincoln School sits in the middle of a residential area at the southeast corner of Jackson Street and 7th Avenue. The square, two-story school building itself does not adhere to any specific architectural style but does include some Romanesque elements that were typical of schoolhouses built during this era. It is constructed out of brown brick and is simple in ornamentation, with only a thin

belt course A belt course, also called a string course or sill course, is a continuous row or layer of stones or brick set in a wall. Set in line with window sills, it helps to make the horizontal line of the sills visually more prominent. Set between the ...

between the roof and second-story windows. The windows, although not original, are still mostly in their original positions. These are encircled by decorative masonry with concrete sills. The main entrance is located on the right side of the northern facade and is encircled by a slightly raised brick and concrete archway. Its roof is flat and features a few

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

s that are flush with the rest of the building. Inside, the school originally consisted of only four rooms and a basement. Hallways ran the width of one side of the building on both floors, which led into the classrooms. A multi-purpose room, restrooms, and the boiler were located in the basement.

References

{{NRHP in Butte County, South Dakota National Register of Historic Places in Butte County, South Dakota School buildings completed in 1919 Schools in Butte County, South Dakota School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota 1919 establishments in South Dakota Educational institutions established in 1919