Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Columbian School/George Washington Carver Academy

The city of East Orange is no stranger to fine architecture when it comes to public school buildings. These handsome brick structures are peppered throughout the streets, with many dating back to the 1800's. One noteworthy example of this standard of architectural elegance and excellence was the Columbian School in the Ampere neighborhood.


Source

The three story, eight room brick building was constructed on the corner of Grove street and Springdale avenue in 1892. The land it was built on was originally grazing land for the cows of nearby dairy farms.


The relatively large building originally accommodated grades k-3. As the city around the school grew, so did the need for more space. In 1912, several new sections were added to the building. One of the new additions was a beautiful large auditorium.


The auditorium had large windows separated by tall pilasters. The stage was flanked by smooth, corinthian capped columns. Another highlight of the room was the mezzanine level that included a projection room.


Surrounding the ceiling was an ostentatious stacked plaster crown molding. The hand carved display featured a floral rim perched atop a large cove. Below that existed a denticulated egg-and-dart detail. In addition, several more rows of hand carved ornamentation were banded around the bottom rim.


The field of the ceiling also had a plaster grid that extended all the way to the crown. The new auditorium was a monument to the skill of the Italian masons who constructed it.


Another interesting feature of the school was the library. The large room was the highest point on the building. The hallway leading to the room was lit by skylights. Stained glass transom windows were installed over the doorways, and were still intact over a hundred hears later.



Eventually the population of the city began to dwindle. The school was closed, and was reborn as the George Washington Carver Academy.  They made a number of improvements to the building, including replacing all of the windows with new aluminum models. The GWC academy continued to use the building until 2006, when a pervasive mold problem forced them to vacate the historic school.







The structure sat vacant for a decade before I caught word that it was supposed to be demolished. Plans called for a brand new school to be built on the site. Usually when an old school building is torn down with the intent of being rebuilt, I quell my preservationist reservations and tell myself "at least the students will have a brand new, state of the art school building". However, something about this decision bugged me. While there are still tons of historic schools in use around the city, there are also an abundance of vacant lots. The city is also designated a "transit community"; a distinction that allows incentives for development through tax breaks. This, paired with historic tax credits that the structure was certainly eligible for, could have offset the cost of reusing the building significantly. Alas, my feelings were dashed as demolition began in late 2016. A few months later, the site was but a pile of brick and twisted steel.


This sad but all too common story is one that will certainly be repeated. Major cities all across the state are choosing to replace their historic schools, rather than sell or reuse them. A few notable cases being Trenton Central High School and the former Newark Technical School. As these stories continue to unfold, I will do my best to continue to tell them.

24 comments:

  1. More great work. Keep it up!

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  2. The architecture in these historical venues is incredible. Very interesting!

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  3. Graduated from Columbian in 1967. Sorry to see it go.

    m.lago

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  4. Hey M. Lago, I too graduated in 1967. Also sorry to see it go. I visited it for old time sake in the mid 80's. It had not changed much.

    Thanks to the author for the great article and sorry to see it go. I heard that Clifford Scott HS is gone too.

    B. Sandor

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  5. Clifford Scott HS's complex has become the city's Ninth Grade STEM Academy. Scott and EOHS were earlier merged into East Orange Campus High School. EO STEM and EOCHS are a block apart; the latter is in three remodeled Upsala College buildings.

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  6. Very well documented, I attended K-8 and left in 1961. I only realized how beautiful Columbian was after attending other schools and Colleges.

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  7. My father attended Columbian in the 1930's and my siblings and I went there in the 1960's. I remember it well and am sad to see how it wound up.

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    1. I remember your family. Kathy was in my class. I recall your family lived on N. Arlington and Springdale, if I'm not mistaken. I am also sad to see the demise of that lovely school.--Toni-Lynne Calabrese

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  8. More vintage photos of Columbian School at this link: https://stocktonschool.blogspot.com/2012/08/columbian-school.html

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  9. Oh it's a bit disappointing. I went to that school from 1966-1971! It was rough for me, having been the first Cuban-refugee. I spoke no English at the time. The school was huge. The only teacher I remember was Miss Cariola in 2nd grade. I found my 7th grade class picture. Made me want to check it out. The building was ageless in my mind. I feel sad that it is no longer there.

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  10. I started my elementary education at Columbian School in 1981-82! I remember the architecture of this school to this day! I am 43 now and I went there from Kindergarten to the 5th grade, graduated and went to John L. Costley, but moved to NC in 1988 and been here every since! But I had some great memories at Columbian School! Thanks for sharing this blog!

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  11. I went to Columbian and loved it the huge field where we had our Halloween parade. Very well done I was always taken of how small I felt amidst the hallways and rooms

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  12. I went to Columbian School in 1952-1957. Mrs Staff was my k teacher. I had Mrs. Atcheson in 4th grade.

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  13. Wow,I graduated 86 good childhood memories

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  14. I went to Columbian from 94' to 00'. It eventually changed to george Washington carver. So many memories in that school. The new Building looks great but just doesn't feel the same.

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  15. I went to Columbian from 94' to 00'. It eventually changed to george Washington carver. So many memories in that school. The new Building looks great but just doesn't feel the same.

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  16. I arrived from Puerto Rico in 1974 and spoke Zero English. I was placed in Mrs.Cahill's class in the mornings and Mrs.Lafalse in the Afternoons. 2yrs later, I was 💯 % fluent in both languages. I'm extremely grateful for my humble Beginnings. I'm sad my First School in the US is gone. Columbian School will always live in my heart. God Bless!

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  17. I attended Colombian School in the mid 1950’s. My parents and all of their siblings also went there in the 1920’s and 1930’s. All of them graduated from Scott also. I have long since moved from the area, but have fun memories of the monkey bars, spinning wheel, and playing dodgeball in the basement rec rooms.

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  18. I attended kindergarten and first grade there in the early 1950s. I remember, I think it was Miss Staff, the stern, white-haired K teacher and Mrs. Veatch. The monkey bars my brother, 15, broke his arms on, the plate breaking game at the fair and the presence of polio and all the pre-inoculation diseases we contracted.I had a brother, John, a few years older who attended there. We moved to Summit and I never saw that area till 49 years later in 2002 returning from dropping my daughter off at Smith College. I am sad the old school and so many other buildings and homes are gone. The people living there now deserve more. In the summer there were shallow wading pools in the playground and mothers would bring their kids there to cool off under a canopy of trees. So many streets have lost their trees. I wish I could plant new ones. It is true that you can't go home again but I hope that some of those living there now can understand some of the history there, both good and bad, and create something new and healthy. I live on a few acres in Chester County PA now but have not forgotten the people or places of my early childhood. If you look carefully and squint, you just might see an adventurous little girl in the playground or picking flowers in the cemetery or waiting for her dad at the station.

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  19. Michael O’Hara, Tom McInerney here, went to Columbia Grammar School with you, and remember your parents home on Arlington Ave and your family’s firepole to the basement. Now living in Australia, send me an email sometime (tmcinern52@gmail.com)

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  20. Wow I went to Columbia in 1984. Came from across the Field Our Lady Of All Souls Catholic school. Anybody remember Ms Wise Music teacher.

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  21. I graduated from Columbian in 1967 and loved it. During 8th grade, I loved it some much I was absent for only 2.5 days that year. My best attendance record of all times.

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  22. I went to Columbia School from 1955-58. I lived on 119 N.15th Street. We walked to school through the town every day and Herbie the policeman was always on the corner by the drug store to direct traffic for children crossing the street.
    I loved this school and had Miss Staff in Kindergarten, Miss Knoll in First Grade and Mrs. Hartcoff (sp?) in Second Grade.
    I was fascinated with the Library on the top floor that had two different ways to go up to. What I call the “ back way” was more fun.
    In the basement of the school were all the restrooms and several small oddly shaped rooms with chalk like walls that were used for gym glass.
    The grounds surrounding the school were beautiful and there was a huge chestnut tree in the back of a courtyard. When walking to school there was a huge iron gate that was a shortcut to walk through and down a long path, past the field, to get to school instead of walking around the block.
    I loved that once a year they had a big carnival with games where you would win tickets to cash in for prizes and there were even vendors with white elephant tables with all sorts of “ treasures “ to buy.
    At Halloween they had a costume contest and gave a silver dollar to the winner in each category ( I won one one year!).
    At Christmas the whole school participated in a pageant.
    There are some great memories of this school.

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