Built in 1912, Lewis & Clark High School was designed in the Collegiate Gothic style by Spokane architect Loren Leighton Rand. Today a tall row of deciduous trees shading the front facade makes the school a difficult photo subject. What one can see, however, appears exactly as it did in 1912, the year of its completion. The school came to be as a result of fire, the second school on this site nearly completely succumbing to a fire in 1911. When built at a cost of $655,780 Lewis & Clark High included a metals shop, domestic science rooms, typing rooms, cafeterias, and a conservatory, along with classrooms. Incorporated into the 1912 construction is a two story brick administration annex on the southeast, built in 1908, which survived the fire.
Architecturally, the school is quite an interesting building, particularly at the beautiful and intricate arched stone grand entrance, which is more or less centred on the north elevation. In the artwork over the arch are the words
Lewis And Clark High School, with
AD and
1911 to the sides. Above is a two storey window within a matching arch, then sculptures of three rather silly looking chimeric figures intended to represent mechanical arts, literature, and science.
Mechanical Arts is depicted by the goofy figure clutching a toothed sprocket,
Literature by the least goofy looking guy holding a rolled up scroll, and
Science by the goofy looking figure holding an earth globe with both hands, tilted, incidentally, at more or less the appropriate angle.
