Winnemucca Grammar School — Winnemucca, NV - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The following information from the National Register files:

The Winnemucca Grammar School, built in 1927-28, is a two-story brick structure, designed by architect Richard Watkins, in the Prairie Style. The Winnemucca Grammar School is in a residential neighborhood in the center of Winnemucca, just to the west of the central business district and two blocks south of highway 95, which functions as a commercial "strip" in Winnemucca. The site is an irregular polygon, five-sided, bordered by Lay, Fifth, Aiken and Sixth Streets.

The Winnemucca Grammar school is a nearly square building, with a central two-story core set within a larger one-story mass. Roofs are flat. The red brick walls resting on a concrete foundation are relieved by white cast stone ornamentation. The primary facade of the building is symmetrical about the canopied entry, which is set into the protruding two-story three-bay central building mass. The center bay is slightly recessed, with large library windows above the doorway.

The massing as well as the ornamentation of the building emphasizes the horizontal. A double horizontal band at the cornice line is the primary visual organizer. This band occurs at the roofline, and approximately two feet below at the window line. This banding occurs at both the primary one-story and central two-story mass. Rectilinear ornamentation is used within and around the banding. The roofline of the building is broken by shallow crenelations.

The plan of the building is organized as a square within a square, with classrooms set around the auditorium/gymnasium core. Asmall second story consists of a library, two classrooms and an auditorium balcony. The interior finishes create a surprisingly ornate appearance. Corridor floors consist of a checkerboard of gray and white hexagonal tiles. Walls consist of a granite-flecked face brick wainscot, topped by a heavy, square-profiled wood molding, with plaster above. Interior columns and piers are abundantly ornamented with an eclectic mix of classical and botanically-derived forms. Face brick like that on the walls again covers the lower portion of the columns. Heavy white capitals, consisting of a curved, projecting shelf over dentillated brackets, top the brick.

The corridor ceiling is organized into large recessed square panels. Beams between the recesses are faced and highly ornamented. Dentils border the edges of the recesses. Square-within-square motifs, similar to those found on the exterior, form a panel in the center of the beams. Skylights occur at the corridor corners. The grandest space occurs at the foyer. Opposite the entry doors, a grand stairway, dividing at an intermediate landing, ascends to the second story. Statues, donated by local civic groups shortly after the school's construction, stand at niches at the four corners of the foyer. These include two classical statues and a replica of the Statue of Liberty. Classrooms are simple but functional, with wood floors, abundant natural light and built-in casework.