Hampstead School, Hampstead Maryland

Date added: March 08, 2024 Categories:

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The Hampstead School, constructed in 1919 and 1939, is a good example of centralized schools that Maryland's early 20^th century school consolidation created. Until 1956, it housed students from first grade through high school. Designed and constructed by local builder N. Claud Erb, the school illustrates the importance of public education in the first half of the 20^th Century. In 1951 Black and Decker opened its nearby plant, resulting in population growth that quickly overwhelmed the school's capacity.

In 1916, Maurice H. Unger became superintendent of schools for Carroll County. His plan, known as Rural Reorganization, was to consolidate the public schools. Over the next 12 years, 24 one-room schoolhouses closed and 7 new consolidated schools, including the Hampstead School, opened.

Citizens of Hampstead first approached the Carroll County Board of Education in June of 1916 requesting improved facilities. The Board agreed to construct an "up-to-date, 4-room school" provided the community furnish a suitable site. The site selected was that of the existing school shown on the 1911 Sanborn Map with the addition of some land from an adjacent cemetery. The Board called upon N. Claud Erb to prepare plans for the new Hampstead School. Erb's plans for the school were accepted by the Board in January of 1917, but all bids for its construction, including that of Erb himself, were denied in February. On March 7^th, 1917, faced with overwhelming demands for school improvements and inadequate supplemental funding from the County Commissioners, the Board of Education passed a resolution declaring that it would construct no new buildings during the year 1917. Meanwhile, the existing Hampstead School closed in April, and temporary quarters were rented for the following year. Finally, in May of 1918, the Board of Education approved an extensive building program, to be funded by the County Commissioners, which included $16,000 for construction of the new Hampstead School in 1918-1919. Construction began in June of 1918 under the supervision of a "temporary building and purchasing committee" that included N. Claud Erb. Erb's role is further clarified in the minutes of the June 5^th, 1918 meeting:

Report on the cost of the Hampstead building in which Mr. Erb will build the building, was considered by the Board, and in this connection the Board decided that inasmuch as it has a building programme (sic) that will extend over five years [to construct at least 8 new schools], it would be better to employ a man by the year at a salary of $2000 per year and traveling expenses, and the price of $500.00 be paid Mr. Erb for his plans and specifications, drawn and to be drawn during the term of his contract.

Subsequent Board of Education minutes do not mention the 4-room school originally approved in May of 1916, and the building appears not to have been constructed. In 1917, the Board designated Hampstead as the location of a future high school as well as a consolidated grade school. The 4-room school approved in 1916 would have been insufficient for a grade school and high school, requiring a new design.

The Hampstead School opened in September of 1919 with 9 teachers and grades 1 through 11. The building contained 12 classrooms, an office, and a large, open room eventually used as a cafeteria. The first graduating class of 1921 had 7 members. However, the consolidation movement continued, and the Hampstead School quickly grew with the addition of students from the Greenmount School in 1923, the Wesley School in 1925, the Emory School in 1926, the Houcksville School in 1928, the Snyderburg School in 1937, the Shiloh School in 1939, and the Fairmount School in 1940.

This continual addition of new students required a substantial expansion of the 1919 school. In 1939, B. E. Starr of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania designed a new addition, which housed 5 more classrooms, a gymnasium/auditorium, a library, and a shop/boiler room. The Hampstead School continued teaching all grades, adding 12^th grade in 1949.

In 1951, Black & Decker opened a plant near Hampstead which quickly became the largest of the firm's worldwide subsidiaries. The plant created an influx of population that quickly overwhelmed the existing twelve-grade school. The last senior high school class graduated from the Hampstead School in 1956. The next fall, North Carroll Senior High School opened. Hampstead School continued serving grades 1 through 8 until 1961, when the North Carroll High School was enlarged to accommodate grades 5 through 8. Hampstead School then operated as an elementary school for kindergarten through 4^th grade. Open-plan classroom additions were added to the rear of the school in 1968 and 1972. When a new elementary school opened nearby in 1986, the Hampstead School closed. While the 1919 main block and 1939 addition remained vacant, the 1968 and 1972 additions were remodeled to accommodate a family resource center during the 1990s.

Education in Maryland and Carroll County

Carroll County was created in 1837 from portions of Frederick and Baltimore Counties. Although the first white settlers were English and Scottish, the Pennsylvania Germans quickly arrived in large numbers and established a strong cultural presence. Throughout most of its history, Carroll County's economy depended on agriculture and agriculture-related milling: grain production during the early 19^th century, grain and dairy production during the late 19^th century, and dairy, poultry, and feed crop production during the 20^th century. The village of Hampstead was laid out in 1786 but did not grow significantly until the Hanover Railroad came through in 1879. The village was the largest settlement in the Hampstead voting and school districts.

Although the Maryland General Assembly made numerous attempts to establish a system of free public education, Carroll County and other counties subsisted on a decentralized system of private and parochial schools and a handful of small public schools until after the Civil War. In 1849, Carroll County passed an act establishing public primary schools and dividing the limited state funds among the districts according to school-age population. The results, however, were largely inadequate. In 1864, however, Article 8 of the new state Constitution mandated "a uniform, centralized system of tax-supported public schools". This led to the Public School Law of 1865, which established the State Board of Education and mandated the appointment of a Superintendent of Public Instruction. County School Commissioners were appointed by the governor to hire teachers, choose textbooks, and establish at least one primary school in each election district and at least one secondary school in each county. State taxes were allocated based on a county's school-age population and supplemented by local taxes.

In Carroll County, the School Commissioners set about renting and buying former private schools and other buildings for use as public schools. By 1866, Carroll County had 70 schools, 74 teachers, and 3,109 students for the fall term, and 87 schools, 92 teachers, and 4,620 students for the winter term. By 1870, the Hampstead school district had 8 schools, 451 registered students, and 283 regularly attending students. In 1880, Carroll County had 125 schools (32 frame, 63 brick, 18 log, and 2 stone), 131 teachers, and 6,454 students (including African American students, who were taught in separate schools). By 1880, the Hampstead district had 11 schools and 440 registered students. Hampstead village had 2 schools with 44 and 42 students.

During the late 19^th Century, Carroll County replaced many of the older school buildings with 1-room brick school houses. Gladys Merriman Miller, who began teaching in the Hampstead district in 1930, described these buildings in her memoirs:

Hampstead was surrounded by many small country schools which were all similar in appearance. They were built of brick and consisted of only one room. In the middle of the room stood a pot-bellied stove. A blackboard stretched across the back of the room. There were usually 4 rows of desks which seated two. The children were placed near the blackboard on benches where they recited their lessons. There were several cupboards which contained shelves for lunch pails and books. A short bench held a water bucket and dipper. There was an iron sink and a wash basin. The main subjects were the 3 R's.... In these buildings, grades 1 through 8 were housed, and those who pursued further education attended Franklin High School in Reisterstown and provided their own transportation.

As the population of Maryland grew rapidly during the early 20^th Century, it became apparent that the existing system of one-room schoolhouses would no longer suffice. In 1914, the Flexner-Bachman survey of state schools found most of the buildings and equipment to be "of the poorest type." These findings combined with increased requirements for student attendance, teacher qualifications and salaries, and health standards forced the consolidation of many rural schools during the early years of the 20^th century. School Laws in 1911 and 1916 strengthened school attendance requirements, raised standards of education for public school teachers, raised teachers' salaries, provided for the education of handicapped children, and required African American students to spend as much time in school as white students. Under the Equalization Act of 1922, Governor Albert Cabell Ritchie established a general educational fund from which all counties could draw equally. Beginning in 1928, completion of primary school was required of every child in Maryland. All of these laws changed the educational environment in rural counties from one in which school was optional and often preempted by families' needs for child labor to one in which every child was expected to attend school regularly.

Building Description

The Hampstead School, constructed in 1919 and expanded in 1939, stands on the east side of Main Street in the village of Hampstead in northeastern Carroll County. The brick, 2-story, vernacular Tudor revival building has a U-shape with a 1919 rectangular main block and an L-shaped rear addition constructed in 1939. N. Claud Erb of Westminster designed the 1919 main block, and B. E. Starr of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania designed the 1939 addition. The building is in fair condition.

The Hampstead School is situated on a sloping 5.35-acre lot on Main Street. The school is set back from the street in the center of the lot. A church and cemetery border the property on the south, and the rear yards of a residential street border the property on the north. There are agricultural fields beyond the athletic fields that occupy the rear of the site.

The Hampstead School is a 2-story, 5-bay brick building that faces west onto Main Street. The U-shaped building is comprised of a rectangular main block, constructed in 1919, and an L-shaped addition, constructed in 1939. The north wall of the addition is continuous with the north wall of the main block so that the "L" creates a small court on the south between the two components of the building. International-style brick and glass additions constructed in 1968 and 1972 extend east from the rear of the building. The main entrance to the building is located in the center bay of the front (west) facade. Secondary entrances are located at the north and south ends of the main block and the south end of the 1939 addition.

The 1919 main block has an ashlar granite foundation, brick walls laid in running bond, and a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The 1939 addition has a brick foundation, brick walls laid in a 6-course common bond, and a flat roof with a stepped parapet. The banded belt course that extends around the building and the coping on the parapet are cast concrete. The window openings have cast concrete sills and lintels. Virtually all concrete trim has been painted white. The windows are 12/12 or 9/9 wood sash. Many have been boarded over. Details drawn from the Tudor Revival architectural vocabulary include the contrast between the brick and white trim, the grouped windows, the stepped parapet, and the arch over the front door.

The front (west) facade of the Hampstead School consists of the central main entry flanked by grouped windows and projecting end pavilions. The main entry is deeply recessed within an elliptical concrete arch flanked by full-height brick pilasters. The paired, 6-light double doors each have 21-light transoms and concrete surrounds. A concrete panel inscribed "Hampstead School" and a triple window on the 2^nd floor further emphasize the prominent entrance. The bays flanking the central entrance have single and grouped windows. In general, grouped windows light classrooms and offices, while single windows light classrooms and hallways. The projecting end pavilions exhibit recessed brick panels trimmed with brick corbels and concrete corners. The parapet wall is stepped over the center bay and end pavilions.

Secondary facades are detailed in a similar manner. Secondary entrances are emphasized by stepped parapet walls. Grouped windows light classrooms, single windows light secondary and circulation spaces, and brick panels ornament blind walls. On the north facade, the 1939 addition is continuous with the 1919 main block. The 1939 addition also has a wing extending to the south, parallel to the main block. Large, 2^nd story windows on the east facade of the main block and the east and west facades of this south wing light assembly spaces. The south wing has a date stone inscribed "1939" at its southwest corner.

The interior of the building is organized around a north-south hallway in the 1919 main block and an east-west hallway in the 1939 addition. Together, the hallways form an "L". Stairwells and secondary entrances are located at the ends of the hallways. Classrooms are arranged around the perimeter of the building. First-floor locker rooms and a 2^nd-floor cafeteria are located in the center rear of the main block. A 1^st-floor shop/boiler room and 2^nd-floor auditorium/gymnasium are located in the south wing of the 1939 addition.

While the basic interior plan remains largely intact, spaces and finishes have been altered over the years. Interior finishes are simple. Most of the floors are covered in tile, but wood floors remain in the 2 story hallway of the main block and in the auditorium/gymnasium of the addition. The plaster walls retain most of their base and chair mouldings. Plaster ceilings are visible through holes in the modern dropped ceiling. A few early half-glass interior doors with transoms remain.

One-story additions dating to 1968 and 1972 extend to the rear of the building. They are detailed with a combination of blind brick walls and ribbon windows. These additions were converted to office use during the 1990s. Finishes include tile and carpeted floors, concrete block and ceramic tile walls with drywall partitions, and dropped ceilings.