County of building: Saint Charles County
Location of structure: Adams St. & N 6th St., NE corner, St. Charles
Built: 1896-1897
Architect/Builder: John Hackmann
Architectural Style: Neo-Classical Revival
Original Occupant: St. Charles City School District
Map
The Person:
"Thomas Hart Benton (March 14, 1782 – April 10, 1858), nicknamed "Old Bullion", was a United States Senator from Missouri. A member of the Democratic Party, he was an architect and champion of westward expansion by the United States, a cause that became known as Manifest Destiny. Benton served in the Senate from 1821 to 1851, becoming the first member of that body to serve five terms.
"Benton was born in Harts Mill, Orange County, North Carolina. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he established a law practice and plantation near Nashville, Tennessee. He served as an aide to General Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri, after the war. Missouri became a state in 1821, and Benton won election as one of its inaugural pair of United States Senators. The Democratic-Republican Party fractured after 1824, and Benton became a Democratic leader in the Senate, serving as an important ally of President Jackson and President Martin Van Buren. He supported Jackson during the Bank War and proposed a land payment law that inspired Jackson's Specie Circular executive order.
"Benton's prime concern was the westward expansion of the United States. He called for the annexation of the Republic of Texas, which was accomplished in 1845. He pushed for compromise in the partition of Oregon Country with the British and supported the 1846 Oregon Treaty, which divided the territory along the 49th parallel. He also authored the first Homestead Act, which granted land to settlers willing to farm it.
"Though he owned slaves, Benton came to oppose the institution of slavery after the Mexican–American War, and he opposed the Compromise of 1850 as too favorable to pro-slavery interests. This stance damaged Benton's popularity in Missouri, and the state legislature denied him re-election in 1851. Benton won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1852 but was defeated for re-election in 1854 after he opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Benton's son-in-law, John C. Frémont, won the 1856 Republican Party nomination for president, but Benton voted for James Buchanan and remained a loyal Democrat until his death in 1858." ~ Wikipedia
The Place:
"Built: 1896-1897
Style/Design: Classical Revival
Based on the “History of Benton School” by Stephen Blackhurst, the School Board purchased the south half of Block No. 182 from Ezra Overall’s heirs for $4,100 and entered into a contract with John Hackmann on May 18, 1896, to construct the school building for $17,420. Rather than holding a vote for school bonds, money for construction was borrowed from a permanent fund of the St. Charles School District. George Jones was the Superintendent of Schools when the building was constructed, and the School Board included T.F. McDearman, president; Lewis H. Brecker, Secretary; F.X. Kremer; Oscar M. Gray; S.H. Wright; and Dr. John E. Bruere. The school was named for Thomas Hart Benton, a U.S. Senator from Missouri who was influential in the opening of the first free public school in St. Charles in 1822.
(Blackhurst) Benton School was ready for occupancy late in 1897, and from that time until 1901 it served as a high school. From 1901 until its closing in 2007 it served as an elementary school.
(Vinson)
Over the years, improvements were made to the grounds. In 1898 the iron fence was constructed for $597.49, and in 1919 the stone retaining wall on Benton Avenue was built for $1,216. In 1955 the north half of the block was purchased and became part of the school property. Many improvements were also made to the building. A modern plumbing system was installed in 1902 for $1,313.95 and in 1912 the hot air heating was replaced by steam heat at a cost of $4,759. The furnace was overhauled in 1933 for $2,000, and in 1939 repairs were made to the building and a new furnace was installed. In 1949 the lavatories were remodeled and underpinnings were added. By 1953 more space was needed and an addition was constructed for $137,439.
The addition housed four classrooms, a basement facility, new boiler room and oil heating system, and an all purpose room.
William B. Ittner, Inc. was the architectural firm responsible for the design of the addition and Mr. Dilschneider of St. Louis was the general contractor (Blackhurst). The school closed in 2007 as part of a district-wide reorganization to save money. The building
was rehabilitated in 2008 and became the administrative center for the St. Charles School District.
"Built in 1896, Benton School is a two-and-one-half story, brick, Classical Revival style building that rests on a coursed, rock-faced
stone foundation pierced by two-light basement windows that have large rock-faced stone lintels and cast stone sills. The brick walls are laid in a running bond pattern and have terra cotta and cast stone ornamentation. The truncated hip roof, which is trimmed with a denticulated frieze, originally had a widow’s walk and a central domed cupola, but they were destroyed during the tornado that struck the city in 1915. A shallow gabled wing with pedimented gable end projects from the center of the main (west) façade while shallow hipped wings project from the center of the side elevations, and brick interior end chimneys are on the west side of the projecting hipped wings. The first floor of the façade features a central main entrance located in the front-gabled wing, the first floor of which is decorated with brick quoins. The wall and foundation between the quoins are slightly recessed. The entrance was originally recessed within the large round-arched opening, but in 1960 the entrance was enclosed to create a
vestibule to conserve heating. The opening holds a pair of half-glazed doors recessed between single-light sidelights, and above the door and sidelights is a six-light fanlight. To each side of the fanlight is an ornamental terra cotta rosette, and a corbelled brick frieze is above the entrance between the quoins. The doors open onto a small recessed porch and a stairway with four stone steps. To each side of the projecting gabled wing are three 1/1 windows topped by single-light transoms, and a continuous cast stone sill extends under each group of three windows. Two cast stone belt courses above the entrance form a sign panel, which holds the name of the building, “Benton School.”
Above the sign panel, in the front-gabled wing, are four 1/1 windows topped by single-light transoms, and above each of these windows is a round-arched, terra cotta panel with foliated design
bordered by a bead-and-reel molding. Above these windows is a cast stone belt course, above which are four rectangular ventilators. On the second floor of the façade, to each side of the front-gabled wing, are three 1/1 windows with single-light transoms and cast stone sills. The area between the first and second floor windows have recessed panels, and under these are bead and reel moldings. The side elevations match the main façade except for the projecting wings, which have hipped roofs.
The first floor of the projecting wings have a half-glazed door with single-light sidelights and fanlight and a pair of 1/1 windows with single-light transoms (the doors were originally paired half-glazed doors but were replaced in 2008). These two openings are set within a slightly recessed area framed by quoins and topped by a corbelled brick frieze. Above each door is a round terra cotta
plaque with the date of construction, 1896. In the second floor are two pairs of 1/1 windows with single-light transoms topped by
round-arched terra cotta panels with foliated design. Two belt courses are below the second floor windows (one serves as the window sill) and one is above. In the attic story are two single-light windows. On the rear of the building is a two-story, brick addition with one-story wing. The addition, which was constructed in 1953, has bands of 1/1 windows topped by transoms. In 1999 a modular classroom building with side-gabled roof and vertical board walls was attached to the rear wall of the 1953 addition. There are five 1/1 windows on the east elevation and none on the north.
"The property originally associated with Benton School is the south half of Block No. 182, which is bounded by Sixth, Adams, Clark
and North Benton. The Sanborn Insurance maps show that a two-story house historically occupied the north half of the block; however, the house is no longer extant and in 1955 the St. Charles School District purchased the lot. The entire 2.21-acre block is now owned by the School District. Public sidewalks extend along each street, and a concrete sidewalk with a stairway having five steps leads to the main entrance, where it then turns to the right and left to wrap around the side elevations. Along the sidewalk are shrubs planted in landscape beds edged with decorative concrete pavers. A wrought iron, hairpin-and-arrow fence was installed in 1898 (Blackhurst) and spans the south half of the west lot line, and a gate with iron posts holding an iron banner with the name of the school is at the front entrance to the property. The remainder of the property is enclosed with a modern
metal picket fence; the fence on the south lot line rests on a high concrete retaining wall while the fence along the rear (east) lot
line is on a coursed, rock-faced stone retaining wall that was built in 1919 (Blackhurst). Paved asphalt parking lots are along each side of the building, but the front yard and north half of the block remain lawn, with numerous mature trees. Playground equipment is situated in the north side yard and is used by neighborhood children." ~ St. Charles Historic Survey Phase III, PDF pages 96-102