St. Martinville Elementary School, Saint Martinville Louisiana

Date added: March 08, 2024 Categories:

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The St. Martinville Elementary School and three other "modern brick" schools were constructed in 1922, a year referred to as "the inception of a new era" in education in St. Martin Parish. Of these four, only two remain, the Elementary School and a small one-story brick building. These two schools are the only surviving historic school buildings in the parish.

The development of public education in Louisiana is largely a phenomenon of the early twentieth century. At least it is during this period that remarkable progress was made. For much of the state's history, private education was the order of the day. In the more heavily populated southern part of the state, education was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Even into this century, there was a stigma attached to sending one's children to public schools, which were considered to be "pauper schools." Indeed, given the small amount of attention and funding given to public education, the quality of instruction was generally poor. And the situation, of course, was at its worst in rural areas.

The turning point in the history of public education in Louisiana is generally regarded as the 1898 constitution, which provided comprehensive measures to address the matter. Among the most important was facilitating the ability of local authorities to levy special taxes for the construction and maintenance of schools. In the next few years school boards held special elections across the state to build much-needed schools.

Like the rest of heavily Catholic southern Louisiana, St. Martin Parish had relied upon the church to educate its children. Little is documented about public schools in the parish before the early twentieth century. The first public school in St. Martinville, the parish seat, was built at the turn of the century. It is shown in old photographs as a long two-story galleried building. It was replaced in 1910 with a relatively small (roughly 40' by 40') brick two-story school. A two-story brick school was also constructed in Breaux Bridge in that year. Other communities, all rather small, probably had one-story frame schools, based upon what is known generally about the rest of the state.

What is regarded as a watershed in the development of public education in the parish is a school bond issue authorized by the electorate in November 1919 to provide for the construction of new schools. In referring to this as "the inception of a new era" in St. Martin Parish education, a 1950 source noted it was "the first parish-wide school tax voted to add needed buildings for the consolidation of schools." In addition to school consolidation and the construction of new schools, 1922 marked the inauguration of public school transportation in the parish.

Bids for the construction of the four schools, one each in St. Martinville, Breaux Bridge, Cecilia, and Parks, were received in early 1921. The work was awarded to Nolan and Torre, a New Orleans architectural firm, and construction was nearing completion at the end of the year. On December 24^th, 1921 the local newspaper boasted: "The Parish of St. Martin in 1922 will have the best school system and school buildings in Louisiana, with four new high schools, new up-to-date brick buildings[s] now nearing completion." (By way of explanation, the term high school had a different meaning than it does today. Schools called high schools typically educated children in all 12 grades.)

Although "high school" appears on the facade of the candidate, it appears that it has always been used as an elementary school. The above-referenced 1910 school, which served all grades, had an enrollment of 326 in 1920 when plans for the new school were underway. The building must have been considerably crowded given its relatively small size. One suspects that the new school was designated the elementary school, and the old school served the secondary grades. The school is referred to as an elementary school as early as 1927 (per an article in the local paper), and senior citizens in the community know of it by no other name. Regardless of its name, the school must have been an advancement in public education in St. Martinville because grades 1 through 12 could now be divided between two buildings.

The 1910 St. Martinville High burned in late December 1927, and its replacement secondary school was demolished in the early 1990s. As noted previously, the St. Martinville Elementary School is one of only two historic schools surviving in the parish, both of which were constructed as a result of the bond issue authorized in 1919. Now vacant, it is slated for renovation for use as the main building of the St. Martin Parish Early Learning Center. Due to life safety codes, children will only be allowed on the first floor. The second floor will be used for offices and other support facilities.

Building Description

The St. Martinville Elementary School (1922) is a large two-story brick building with cast concrete trim located in an old residential section of town. To both sides and the rear are modern one-story school buildings that house the parish's early learning center. Alterations to the school have been minimal.

The facade is articulated in a manner common for schools of the period, featuring projecting end pavilions and a central entrance section. The rear is marked by a two-story section extending from the middle of the main building block. Although the entrance section projects forward only by a few inches, it is visually dominant, being framed by two-story paneled Ionic pilasters and capped by a denticulated cornice and above that a shaped parapet. Within the shaped parapet are diamond and strapwork designs. Crowning the entrance door is a large cartouche with swirling vine-like designs to each side. The end pavilions have stepped parapets, although the shape is not very pronounced. Other noteworthy exterior features include nine over two windows grouped in bands, an encircling cornice, and a simple belt course above the second-story windows.

The interior is typical in its floor plan. A long hall runs through each floor with large classrooms grouped off of it. The rear wing has two large classrooms on each floor. Details include simple staircases set within arched openings, plaster over lath walls, doors with transoms and five horizontal panels, and six light transom-like interior windows to provide ventilation.