Rochester City School #24 - Rochester, NY - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

"The original School #24 consisted of six classrooms built in 1877... on land donated by the pioneer Rocester hortculturists, George Ellwanger and Patrick Barry." In 1913, Ellwangr and Barry donated a new parcel of land across the street from the original to build thi replacement for the obsolete original.

In 1912, a tragic fire destroying the original School #3 had heightened safety awarenss, and architect Edwin S. Gordon was hired to create a safer model. Gordon with all of the most prestigius architects in Rochester at his time thrugh his career, including Claude Bragdon, J. Foster Warner and William Kaelber.

School #24, also known as Ellwanger and Barry #24, became a forerunner of the "Safety First" school movement in Rochester and across the country. Each classroom of this one-story Spanish Colonial Revival building had its own door. The plan resembles a Roman house with an enclosed atrium, and is roofed wih red Spanish tile, and the walls are treated with stucco. This design is very common in the American mid-west today.

This design, especially the individual doors to the outside, lent itself very well to conversion into condominium space. This conversion was aided by tax incentives for certified rehabilitation of historic buildings.

P.S. Mention of the "tragic" fire at School #3 made me curious to learn if there was loss of life. Although the fire occurred during the school day, but the fire alarm sounded, and the building was evacuated in about one minute, with no casualtis. I guess the tragedy was that the building was farely new, so the property loss was deeply felt.

Street address: Meigs St Rochester, NY USA County / Borough / Parish: Monroe County Year listed: 1983 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture Periods of significance: 1900-1924 Historic function: education Current function: multiple dwelling Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/13/2012 sagefemme visited it