Lincoln School is located on the east side of

Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...

, United States. It has been 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 ...

since 2002.

History

The Davenport Board of Education did an evaluation of its elementary school facilities in the 1920s as well as a study of the projected growth of the city and where that growth would take place. The projection was for the number of elementary-aged students to rise by almost three thousand students between 1930 and 1950, but no building plan based on these projections was prepared. with The elementary school population, however, already rose to that projection by 1936. The board decided at that time to close twelve of its old elementary school buildings and build six new ones. The plan would cost the school district $2.5 million with the federal government contributing 45% of the costs as part of the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was ...

. In addition to Lincoln, the new elementary schools included

Monroe Monroe or Monroes may refer to: People and fictional characters * Monroe (surname) * Monroe (given name) * James Monroe, 5th President of the United States * Marilyn Monroe, actress and model Places United States * Monroe, Arkansas, an unincorp ...

, Madison, Washington, Jefferson, and

McKinley McKinley may refer to: People *McKinley (name), a page for people with the surname and given name "McKinley" **William McKinley, 25th president of the United States. Places Philippines * Fort William McKinley (now Fort Bonifacio) in Metro Ma ...

. Lincoln was the only new facility to be built on the location of one of the older buildings. The floor plans for all six school buildings were designed by the

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

architectural firm of Smith & Childs, and they are all similar in layout. Local architects were employed to design the stylistic features for each building. Davenport architect Howard S. Muesse was chosen for Lincoln School. The building was constructed by Langlois Construction Co. Ground for the new building was broken in 1939 and classes were begun in 1940. Davenport's population continued to increase after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and in 1952 second story classrooms were built on the projecting ends of the building and a two-story addition that included classrooms and a cafeteria in the lower level was added to the northwest corner of the building. Three years later Hoover Elementary School was built further to the east to elevate congestion at both Lincoln and McKinley. Enrollment continued to climb during the 1960s and started to decline in the 1970s. The decline continued into the first decade of the 21st-century. The school became Lincoln Integrated Academy of Arts in 2005, as one of 10 charter schools in the state of Iowa. On April 9, 2012 the Davenport Community School District decided to close Lincoln School at the end of the school year. The decision was based on the need to close a budget deficit and for lack of enrollment. The school district plans to continue maintenance on the building and hopes to find a community use for it.

Architecture

Lincoln School is a three-story structure set on a basement composed of steel-reinforced

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

. The exterior is covered in light brown brick that is accented with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. A flat roof tops the building. The main entrance into the building is flanked by four, two-story columns in the

Corinthian order The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Ancient Roman architecture, Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric or ...

. The entrance itself is a double door with a large transom above and it is capped with decorative stone.

Wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

balconies project from the second story above the entrance. The windows are organized in groups of two, they have decorative stone lintels and they are connected to a stone belt-course. The 1952 addition was built using the same brick as the original building, but the window patterns are different. The library, gymnasium, auditorium, science, art, and vocal music rooms were located in the center of the building. Also in the center of the building was a separate community room for use by local citizens. The classrooms were separated from these common areas. A

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

room with its own exterior entrance was located in the west wing. The gymnasium, auditorium, and the community room were opposite the main entrance and the school office on the first floor. The library was located above the entrance on the second floor. The science, art, and music rooms were located above the gymnasium, auditorium, and the community room on the third floor. They and their storage rooms were the only rooms on that floor. The back wall of the music room curved and the side walls narrowed toward the entrance.

References

{{Scott County, Iowa historic schools School buildings completed in 1940 Colonial Revival architecture in Iowa School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Schools in Davenport, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Davenport, Iowa Public Works Administration in Iowa Defunct schools in Iowa 1940 establishments in Iowa 2012 disestablishments in Iowa