Glenville School | |
![]() North (front) elevation, 2008 | |
Location | Greenwich, CT |
---|---|
Coordinates | 41°2′12″N73°39′52″W / 41.03667°N 73.66444°W |
Area | 10 acres (4.0 ha) |
Built | 1921 |
Architect | James O. Betelle; Rangley Construction Company |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
Part of | Glenville Historic District |
NRHP reference No. | 03001169 [1] |
Added to NRHP | November 21, 2003 |
The Glenville School is a historic school building at 449 Pemberwick Road in the Glenville section of Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. [1] It was one of several schools built in the town in the 1920s, when it consolidated its former rural school districts into a modern school system, with modern buildings.
Architect James O. Betelle, a specialist in school buildings, produced a Georgian Revival school similar to the seven other ones in the town. However, Glenville's is the only one built in a "T" shape, with the auditorium in a front wing. It soon became the major public building in this former mill community, and in 1975, after the elementary school moved to a more modern building, the existing facility became the home of the Western Greenwich Civic Center. In 2003 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, both in its own right and as a contributing property to the Glenville Historic District.
The school property is a 10-acre (4.0 ha) lot on Pemberwick Road, just southeast of the downtown section of Glenville, a section of Greenwich on the state line next to Rye, New York (Port Chester, N.Y.) . It is across the street from the village green and the mill pond in the Byram River. The Hawthorne Woolen Mill that was once the economic center of Glenville, now used as stores and office space, is across Pemberwick to the southwest. [2] : 5
The building is located in the northwest corner of the lot. To the east are two baseball fields; Weaver Street bounds the property on that side. The southern and western sections are wooded, extending to Hawthorne Street North and Highview Road respectively and rear lot lines of houses on those streets. A diverse group of species, including London plane, sycamore, lindens and maples, have been planted. [2] : 5
The school itself is faced in brick laid in Flemish bond trimmed with cast stone sills, keystones, and water table on a high basement. Both wings are topped with slate hipped roofs, with overhanging wooden eaves at the roofline. The two-and-a-half-story classroom wing, running east–west to the south, has an octagonal wooden cupola topped with bell roof and finial. Two small hip-roofed dormer windows pierce either end. [2] : 5
At the north end of the one-and-a-half-story auditorium wing is the main entrance, sheltered by a pedimented, tetrastyle portico. The six round wooden columns (two of which are engaged with the north facade) rising from the stylobate paved in basket weave-patterned brick three feet (1 m) below the water table to unusual capitals with acanthus leaves around a fluted neck. The entablature above echoes that with a fluted architrave, a plain frieze with "Bendheim Western Greenwich Civic Center" in gold lettering, and a dentilled cornice with Greek keys in the modillions. In the center is a round vent with directional keystones. [2] : 5–6
The wall behind the portico is faced in stucco. The main entrance's double wooden doors are recessed in a large round arch topped with a leaded fanlight and flanked by two fluted pilasters topped with a similar cornice to the pediment. Next to it are cast stone panels that top the narrow windows aside the pilasters. On either side of the portico are nine-over-nine sash windows. [2] : 6
On either side of the north wing, the six bays have four large round-arched windows with molded reveal and tracery. The north end has a regular casement window; the south end has no window. A set of steps lead down to the basement at the north end of the eastern face. [2] : 6
The auditorium wing divides the north face of the main wing into two identical sections with two-story, three-bay projecting pavilions and a three-bay hyphen with shed-roofed dormer window. On the western pavilion, a projecting entry bay is substituted for the easternmost window at ground level. [2] : 6
The east and west profiles have projecting bays with staircased entries. On the east it is centered with an arched window similar to those on the auditorium wing between two cast-stone belt courses and framed with some slightly projecting bricks. On the west end, a small flat-roofed extension projects to the south, and the fenestration consists of a row of five smaller arch windows between darker belt courses. The south elevation has windows in all ten bays on both stories. [2] : 7
The main doors open into a vaulted vestibule with paneled wainscoting and a chair rail. Tall pilasters support a simple, molded entablature and connect with the vault ribbing. Fluted pilasters also frame the door from the interior. A staircase with turned newel posts leads downstairs on the west side. A much shorter stairway leads into the auditorium through an entrance with an elliptical arch, molded keystone and molded impost blocks. [2] : 7
Pilasters also frame the windows within the auditorium, with picture panels between them. A molded cornice is at the ceiling line. The stage also has wainscoting and a molded chair rail. [2] : 8
Many original elements also remain in the classroom, though these are less decorative. Each hallway has an arched marble niche with a drinking fountain. At each end of the three hallways is a three-part wood and glass door with transom in textured glass. The hallways are all wainscoted. [2] : 8
The original Glenville school district dates to 1756. It served the small community that grew up around the gristmill on the Byram. By the late 19th century, it had been displaced by a textile mill employing mostly Irish immigrants who comprised most of the village's population. In 1882 a two-story brick building replaced the original one-room wooden schoolhouse. [2] : 12
In 1910 Greenwich consolidated its small local districts into one large one covering the whole town. Expansions to the mills had nearly doubled Glenville's population, with more Polish immigrants coming in, and the school building became overcrowded. The building's neglect and its educational impact, such as classes held in hallways, was the subject of a state report and then a scathing article on June 16, 1912 in The New York Times . Called "Rich Greenwich Spends More on Tires than Schools," [3] it deplored how affluent Greenwich, which relied on philanthropy for much of its school funding, did not keep schools in working-class neighborhoods up to the same standards as those in richer ones. [2] : 12
The town began an ambitious building program to correct the issue. Originally the recommendation was that the existing Glenville School be retained and expanded, but later it was decided to build the new school. It absorbed students from several other closed schools in that part of town. James O. Betelle, a Newark, New Jersey, architect whose large institutional and commercial commissions specialize in schools, about which he wrote a great deal, contributed the design. It and two other schools in Greenwich are his only known work in Connecticut, aside from some buildings at what is now Central Connecticut State University in New Britain. [2] : 12
When built, the school originally sat on just the 3.3 acres (1.3 ha) immediately around it. On its dedication day in 1921, 600 people attended in addition to the 350 students it was designed to hold along with faculty. Classes were held for an hour prior to the ceremony so parents and visitors could observe how they were conducted. In addition to the traditional academic disciplines offerings included sewing, cooking and drawing. The Social Service League of Greenwich operated a large community medical clinic in the building for Glenville residents. [2] : 13
The school building quickly became the focal point of the neighborhood, displacing the declining mills that had given rise to the community in the first place. In 1931, the other 6.7 acres (2.7 ha) of the property were acquired and fields built. It was complemented by the two-acre (8,000 m2) village green that the town bought in 1938, and the firehouse opposite. [2] : 13
Minor alterations were made to the interior in the middle of the century. The school remained in use until a new one was built on Riversville Road in 1975. It was immediately converted into a civic center, with upgrades made to its plumbing and heating. In the late 2000, it was extensively renovated. [4] Few other modifications have been made, and it is the most intact of the schools Greenwich built in the early 20th century. [2] : 13
The civic center building is open on weekday mornings. Sundays, it is used for religious services; at other times it is used for community purposes, like Scout troop meetings, continuing education, a thrift shop, café, indoor sports and children's playgroups. The playground and fields are available for community use, as well. After the renovation, a weight room and day care center were also available. [4]
Cannondale Historic District is a historic district in the Cannondale section in the north-central area of the town of Wilton, Connecticut. The district includes 58 contributing buildings, one other contributing structure, one contributing site, and 3 contributing objects, over a 202 acres (82 ha). About half of the buildings are along Danbury Road and most of the rest are close to the Cannondale train station .The district is significant because it embodies the distinctive architectural and cultural-landscape characteristics of a small commercial center as well as an agricultural community from the early national period through the early 20th century....The historic uses of the properties in the district include virtually the full array of human activity in this region—farming, residential, religious, educational, community groups, small-scale manufacturing, transportation, and even government. The close physical relationship among all these uses, as well as the informal character of the commercial enterprises before the rise of more aggressive techniques to attract consumers, capture some of the texture of life as lived by prior generations. The district is also significant for its collection of architecture and for its historic significance.
The Walnut Street School is a historic school building at 55 Hopkins Street in Reading, Massachusetts. A two-room schoolhouse built in 1854, it is the town's oldest public building. Since 1962 it has been home to the Quannapowitt Players, a local theatrical company. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Burn, a house built in 1834, is the oldest documented Greek Revival residence in Natchez, Mississippi. It was built on a knoll to the north of the old town area of Natchez. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Schenectady City Hall is the seat of government of the city of Schenectady, New York, United States. Designed by McKim, Mead, and White, the building was constructed between 1931 and 1933. It is located on the block between Clinton, Franklin, Jay and Liberty streets. It is built in a revival of the Federal Style, the dominant style of American architecture from 1780 to 1830. Its most prominent features include the square clock tower, with its gold-leaf dome and weathervane, and the Ionic neoclassical portico. It houses not only city government but the local office of U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko.
Wheeler Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley in Berkeley, California in the Classical Revival style. Home to the English department as well as the university's College Writing Programs department, it was named for the philologist and university president Benjamin Ide Wheeler.
The U.S. Post Office in Hudson, New York, United States, is located on Union Street at the corner of South Fourth Street, just across from the Columbia County courthouse. It serves the ZIP Code 12534, which covers the city of Hudson and surrounding areas of the Town of Greenport.
The United States Bankruptcy Courthouse, Tallahassee, Florida, is a courthouse of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
The Le Roy House and Union Free School are located on East Main Street in Le Roy, New York, United States. The house is a stucco-faced stone building in the Greek Revival architectural style. It was originally a land office, expanded in two stages during the 19th century by its builder, Jacob Le Roy, an early settler for whom the village is named. In the rear of the property is the village's first schoolhouse, a stone building from the end of the 19th century.
The U.S. Post Office in Hoosick Falls, New York, is located on Main Street a block south of downtown. It is a brick building erected in the mid-1920s, serving the 12090 ZIP Code, which covers the village of Hoosick Falls and surrounding portions of the Town of Hoosick.
The Walden Jam-e-Masjid, formerly the Historic Walden United Methodist Church, is a mosque located in Walden, New York, United States. It was desanctified in 2013 and sold by the congregation the following year. The building was repurposed as a mosque by a Muslim congregation after being purchased in 2022.
The New Mill and Depot Building of the former Hawthorne Woolen Mill are located in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The two structures were built on an existing textile mill complex in the 1870s.
Hiddenhurst is the former estate of businessman Thomas Hidden, on Sheffield Hill Road in the Town of North East, New York, United States, south of the village of Millerton. It is an elaborate frame house built at the beginning of the 20th century in the neo-Georgian architectural style.
The Benjamin Walworth Arnold House and Carriage House are located on State Street and Washington Avenue in Albany, New York, United States. They are brick structures dating to the beginning of the 20th century. In 1972 they were included as a contributing property to the Washington Park Historic District when it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1982 they were listed individually as well.
Maizefield, often locally called Maizeland, is a historic house on West Market Street in the village of Red Hook, New York, United States. It is a large plain brick building, in the Federal style, with clear English Georgian influences, built around the end of the 18th century. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Grove, also known as Loretto Rest, is a historic house located on Grove Court in Cold Spring, New York, United States. It was built as the estate of Frederick Lente, surgeon at the nearby West Point Foundry and later a founder of the American Academy of Medicine, in the mid-19th century. The Italian-villa design, popular at the time, was by the prominent architect Richard Upjohn. In 2008 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Waterbury Municipal Center Complex, also known as the Cass Gilbert National Register District, is a group of five buildings, including City Hall, on Field and Grand streets in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. They are large stone and brick structures, all designed by Cass Gilbert in the Georgian Revival and Second Renaissance Revival architectural styles, built during the 1910s. In 1978 they were designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are now contributing properties to the Downtown Waterbury Historic District.
The Isaac Young House is an historic wood frame house on Pinesbridge Road in New Castle, New York, United States. It was built about 1872 in the Second Empire style. Its owner, Isaac Young, was a descendant of early settlers in the area. He chose the Second Empire style, more commonly found in cities and villages than on farms, possibly as a way of demonstrating his affluence. The present structure appears to incorporate parts of a vernacular late 18th-century farmhouse, leaving several anomalies in the current house as a result. The house's position atop a low hill would have, in its time, given it a commanding view of the region, including the Hudson River and New York City's skyline.
The John Kendrick House is located on West Main Street in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. It is a brick Tuscan villa house in the Italianate architectural style built in the 1860s, one of the last remaining on Waterbury Green from that period, after which many of the older houses were replaced with commercial buildings. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places individually, after having been included as a contributing property when the Downtown Waterbury Historic District was created a few years earlier.
The Bank Street Historic District is a group of four attached brick commercial buildings in different architectural styles on that street in Waterbury, Connecticut, United States. They were built over a 20-year period around the end of the 19th century, when Waterbury was a prosperous, growing industrial center. In 1983 they were recognized as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mathew H. Ritchey House, also known as Mansion House and Belle Starr House, is a historic home located in Newtonia, Newton County, Missouri. It was built about 1840, and is a two-story, brick dwelling with a two-story rear wing built using slave labor. The house rests on a sandstone block foundation and has a side-gabled roof. It features a one-story front portico and interior end chimneys. Also on the property is the contributing Ritchey family cemetery, outbuildings, and a well. During the American Civil War, the site saw fighting during both the First and Second Battles of Newtonia, which required its use as a hospital after the battles. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and is a contributing property in the First Battle of Newtonia Historic District. The building was damaged by a tornado in 2008.