The Mayflower School, now known as Juneau Montessori School, is a historic school building at St. Ann's and Savikko Streets in the Douglas part of

Juneau, Alaska Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Southeast Alaska, Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the ...

. It is significant as the only surviving historic Native school building in the Juneau-Douglas area. It is also the only

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

style BIA school in Alaska. Its nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 asserts the school was "a source of great pride to the Douglas Native community" and that it "represents a significant tie with the past for many Douglas Native people." It is a rectangular -story wood-frame structure, with a gable roof, and sited in Savikko Park overlooking the Gastineau Channel. It is set on a hillside, and only presents stories to the front. Its main entrance is on the second level, set in a recessed entryway which is flanked by fluted pilasters and topped by a swan pediment. The school was built in 1934 by the

United States Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

(BIA) to serve as a model school for Native children in Alaska. In addition to educational facilities, the school also contained community meeting facilities, including a library, kitchen, and recreation room. The Bureau intended for the school to provide vocational training and to serve as a community center for the Tlingits of Douglas. The building served as an educational facility exclusively for Native children until 1940, when it was merged into the Juneau school system. Since 1994, the building has been used as a Montessori school. The building 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 1988.

References

School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska Colonial Revival architecture in Alaska School buildings completed in 1934 Buildings and structures in Juneau, Alaska Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Juneau, Alaska 1934 establishments in Alaska {{JuneauAK-stub

See also

References