Fergus County High School - Lewistown, MT
Posted by: T0SHEA
N 47° 03.692 W 109° 25.589
12T E 619488 N 5213202
It took quite a while to build this school, almost 20 years, in fact.
Waymark Code: WMXWFG
Location: Montana, United States
Date Posted: 03/07/2018
Views: 0
When the "Then" photo here was taken the grounds looked fairly mature and all the concrete sidewalks and retaining walls were in place. As a result, we would have to guess that, though the school was built in 1919-20, the photo wasn't taken until the 1940s or even the 1950s. The photos were taken looking directly south at the far north corner of the school.
In 1918 Lewistown's high school burned to the ground in a fire set by arsonists on April 30, 1918, precipitating the construction of this more fireproof structure as a replacement. In 1919 Montana suffered its worst drought in recorded history, which was promptly followed by several more years of drought and insect infestations. Consequently, money was at a premium in Fergus County, a county which had relied heavily on agricultural products for income, just when money was required for a new school. As a result, the school was built in three stages, the first in 1919. Link & Haire were the architects for the first unit, J. G. Link and William S. Devine (an associate of the Link & Haire firm for many years) for the second, and G. G. Cottier for the third. Apparently the first unit consisted of classrooms, the second, which came about in 1927, added a gymnasium, while the third, completed in 1937 as a WPA project, added more recreational facilities.
While not overly decorated, the building sports quite a bit of terra cotta, trom the terra cotta caps on the parapet to an extending terra cotta cornice below, terra cotta inserts sprinkled about in the brick facing, terra cotta capitals on large Doric pilasters, terra cotta window surrounds and, on the front face, terra cotta medallions with garlands hung on round posts.
No longer the Fergus County High School, this building has been replaced by a more contemporary school and has been turned into condos - Esplanade Condominiums.
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Fergus County High School - circa 1945 |
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Fergus County High School - 2017 |
Year photo was taken: 1940
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