"Built in 1910, the Mark Twain School cost $11,300 to build, and is located in the residential area north of downtown Poplar Bluff. The construction of the school was an important step in the development of the Poplar Bluff school system. The first school in Poplar Bluff was established in 1869 by the "Butler County Education Society." This two-story frame building was succeeded by a new brick public school in 1875. By 1884, three hundred children of school age attended the public school in the city. This school, known as the Benton School, was demolished and in 1923 the Williamson-Kennedy School was built on its site.
By 1891, the growth of Poplar Bluff necessitated the construction of a new high school building. Known as Central High School, this brick building served as the city's only high school facility for the next two decades. During these years, Poplar Bluffs population continued to rapidly increase and by 1910 a new high school building was required. A lot was purchased on North Main Street and a large, two-story brick building was erected in 1910. The school was named for Mark Twain, the pseudonym for Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), a renowned American writer and humorist from the late nineteenth century who died the year the school was built. Clemens' parents moved to Missouri from Fentress County, Tennessee, in 1835 (just months prior to Twain's birth). Mark Twain wrote several novels in the late nineteenth century, which are considered benchmarks in American literature, including The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Life on the Mississippi. Although Mark Twain never resided in Butler County, he was a folk hero of Missouri and the school was named in his honor.
The construction of the Mark Twain School was in accordance with modern school plans of the period. The building's incorporation of an H-shaped floor plan and raised basement suggest the influence of architect William B. Ittner, St. Louis, Missouri's Commissioner of School Buildings. In 1898, Ittner introduced the use of an H-shaped plan with a raised basement to St. Louis public school design. Ittner's plan, which advocated fireproof construction and the increased use of natural light, represented the first departure from traditional school planning. Ittner's concept appeared in a variety of publications and was quickly adopted by architects in other communities.
The design for the Mark Twain School reflected the Neo-Classical style of the period. The style was popularized during the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and its employment of monumental porticos and classical detailing was widely used in the early 20th century for schools and public buildings. Common features included porticos with columns or pilasters on the main facade, symmetrical designs, and eaves with dentils and/or modillion blocks. The Mark Twain School is a modest example of this style with Neo-Classical influences reflected in its symmetrical plan, Doric motif concrete pilasters which frame the central entrance bay, and its eave modillion blocks. Local architect L.B. Walker designed the building, however, little is known about his career. It appears Walker was a practicing architect in Poplar Bluff during the early 1900s and the Mark Twain School was one of his larger commissions. Walker died in 1915 only five years after he completed his design for the school. John W. Litton was employed to construct the school and it was dedicated in 1910 with actual occupation occurring in 1911.
Upon its completion, the Mark Twain School was the primary high school facility for the city. It contained four large classrooms on each floor along with administrative offices. The 1891 Central High School building became a junior high facility following the construction of the Mark Twain School. Over the next several decades the Mark Twain School continued to serve as Poplar Bluffs only high school. In 1939, Poplar Bluff contained five public grade schools (including the Wheatley and Williamson-Kennedy Schools), a senior high school (the Mark Twain School), and a junior high school (the Central High School). In this year the school system employed 81 teachers and were attended by 2,704 students.
Following World War II, it became apparent that the Mark Twain School no longer retained sufficient space to accommodate the city's high school students. In 1951, a new school building also called the Mark Twain School, was constructed several blocks north on Main Street. The "old" Mark Twain School was then converted into an elementary school and it remained in this use until 1988. During the 1960s a new high school building was constructed on Highland Drive and the Central High School building constructed in 1891 was demolished. Along with the other elementary schools, the "old" Mark Twain School was remodeled in the 1970s.
The Mark Twain School served as a school for Poplar Bluff for seventy-eight years - from 1910 until 1988 - when it was sold by the Poplar Bluff School Board to the City of Poplar Bluff for a symbolic one dollar. The City of Poplar Bluff converted the school into the Poplar Bluff Museum, which was dedicated on July 3, 1994." - National Register Nomination
The building continues to serve as the Popular Bluff Museum. It appears to be in very good condition and is well maintained.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.