Garfield School Building, Lewiston Idaho

Date added: September 29, 2024

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In Lewiston, the school is the only extant example of school architecture from its period. It is representative of other Lewiston schools that have been lost, the Whitman, the Webster, and the circa 1909 Junior High School, for example, which also used colonial-inspired designs. The school was constructed in 1910 after a bond levy raised $10,860 for construction and $2,000 for the site.

Building Description

The Garfield School is a two-story colonial revival-style building on a raised concrete basement story. It is distinguished by its use of two-story bowed bays on either side of a parapeted central bay. The red brick exterior is divided by massive, squared pilasters of grey stucco over brick that give the building a neoclassical character.

Single-light double-hung sash windows with white frames and fixed eight-light transoms are for the most part intact. The double-sloped, hipped roof extends well past the walls, terminating in a molding strip and enclosed eaves of wood painted white.

An outset one-story porch, supported on massive columns, protects the ground-level front entrance. Above this porch, a slant bay that lights a stair landing is protected by a pent roof with figure-four brackets, the only detail that clearly breaks with the building's colonial revival-neoclassical character, Windows on the central bay of the facade and on the outset central bay of the rear elevation have lintels suggesting flat segmental arches.

The property includes lot 21, Garfield Subdivision, which constitutes a remnant of the school grounds. Its mature trees and concrete steps set into a bank provide an approach to the building's most significant facade.