Former Big Horn Academy - Cowley, WY - Former Schools on Waymarking.com

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Former Big Horn Academy - Cowley, WY

in Former Schools

Posted by:  T0SHEA

12T E 699917 N 4972996

A school until 1983, this striking sandstone building was first the Big Horn Academy, later the Cowley High School, still later the administration building by the Big Horn County School District #1.

While the Big Horn Academy was established in 1907 with the construction in Cowley of a stone schoolhouse, the present stone building wasn't constructed until 1916, at a cost of $40,000, replacing that original building. The academy was essentially dissolved in 1924 when the school was transferred to School District No. 28, thereafter to be known as the Cowley High School. The large log building beside the stone schoolhouse was a WPA project built for $10,000 in 1936 as a gymnasium for the school. Since its construction, however, the building has served the community as a community hall as well as a gymnasium.

When the school was closed in 1985 the gymnasium became solely a community hall. As the major meeting space for Cowley and surrounding towns, it has witnessed public meetings and events, political rallies, family gatherings, weddings and funerals, class reunions, dramatic productions, dances, and even prize fights. Although the log gym had been used for storage for many years, the Town of Cowley completed renovations in 2015 to make it available once again for community use. Baskets at each end of the large room, a painted court on the floor, fixed bleachers, and pendant light fixtures indicate its principal use as a basketball court, though the facility continues to host much more than athletic events.

Today the sandstone schoolhouse is used as an administration building by the Big Horn County School District #1.

Big Horn Academy Historic District

The two-story Big Horn Academy was constructed in 1916 of rusticated sandstone that is a mottled red and cream color. Rectangular in shape the building is approximately 80 feet by 65 feet in dimension. The front/south elevation has three bays with the center bay slightly recessed; the east and west elevations also have three bays but the center bay slightly projects from the building. The three entrances on the south, east, and west sides are framed by a beige rusticated stone, and the capstone over the front entrance bears the carved legend: BIG HORN ACADEMY 1916.

The second contributing building, the Cowley Community Hall, was built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration's project. It is located to the east of the Big Horn Academy. The overall building plan is a cruciform shape. The log building is approximately 100 feet long by 60 feet wide and one and one-half stories tall. The foundation is a low 6" in height and made of stone. There is no basement present. The walls are made of six to eight inch lodgepole pine with saddle notched corners in a stepped log design (the projection of the logs is wider at the bottom and decreases as the logs ascend to the roof).

In 1907, the Mormons started construction in Cowley of a stone school house, a part of which was allocated to the use of a more advanced academic enterprise which they would call the Big Horn Academy... ...in 1913 the LDS authorities started planning the construction of a permanent building to house the Big Horn Academy. The old stone school house was torn down and the new school building was completed in 1916 at a cost of $40,000. The work was done entirely by horse and manpower. Stone for it was quarried from the hills to the north by expenditure of brutal hard work, much ingenuity and a limited amount of black powder. The beautifully dressed, coursed stonework, even the large capstone including its chiseled inscription, was all shaped, placed and mortared by hand.

The Academy was operated as a church school until 1924 when its physical facilities and responsibilities were transferred to School District No. 28 and the entity thereafter to be known as the Cowley High School. The building could accommodate 400 students.
From the NRHP Nomination Form