Abandoned and Demolished School in OH
Grant School, Zanevsille Ohio
Grant School had a long association with the educational history of the city of Zanesville. It also derives considerable significance from the fact that it was designed by a master architect of local & statewide import, and was built by an extremely important local contractor.
Architecturally, the building combines elements typical of Richardsonian architecture with those of the pervasive Queen Anne style. Its monumental proportions, heavy masonry bearing walls, and general symmetry are characteristic of Richardson-inspired buildings. The massive rock-faced stone, organic, arch at the main door is pure Richardson, as is the use of stone trim throughout. The Queen Anne style, extremely popular in Zanesville in the 1890s, also influenced the design of Grant School in the distinctive cylindrical corner towers on the facade, the varied roofing system (combining hips, gables, and wall dormers), and the molded brick treatment of the chimneys and towers. Localized architectural ornament is present in the polychromic tile decoration (probably produced by the Mosaic Tile Co.) used to articulate the tower as well as the school name above the main door.
The building was designed by Henry C. Lindsay (1845-1902), a Zanesville native who began as a contractor but who by the 1880s was practicing as an architect. He designed literally dozens of buildings in Zanesville, including commercial, residential, industrial and educational structures, as well as many churches. The Richardsonian mode was a favorite of Lindsay's; two exceptionally fine examples of his work were the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monumental Hall (1888) in Zanesville, and the 1894 Y.M.C.A. in Mansfield, Ohio, both, unfortunately, destroyed.
The building, known during its planning stages as "9th Ward School" was constructed during a time of significant expansion in the city. The village of Putnam was annexed to Zanesville in the early 1870s. In the late 'eighties the Fair Qaks Addition was laid out, providing several hundred new building lots. S. A. Weller built a new pottery several blocks northwest of the school site in 1894, with 3 3-story buildings totaling nearly 50,000 square feet of industrial space. Also located in this neighborhood were the A. O. Jones Brick and Terra Cotta Co., Findeiss & Heckel Tannery, Muskingum Stoneware, Robinson Glass Co., and Fair Oaks Pottery. Grant School was erected to serve the educational needs of this portion of the city and did so until it was abandoned by the city in 1978. It was demolished in the early 1990s.
Building Description
Grant School is an immense masonry structure of brick and stone, generally symmetrical in plan. Exclusive of projections, the building measures 75' x 85'. The structure rests on a raised basement and foundation of rock-faced ashlar with a rock-faced water table. The facade extends 72' and features a 3-story centrally-located projecting bay, 16' across. The main door is located in this bay, well recessed behind a tall Romanesque arch with rock-faced voussoirs. The architectural eclecticism of the 1890s is apparent in this entranceway, which also is ornamented with a molded entablature, egg-and-dart molding, smooth pilasters with composite capitals, and various elements of stylized organic trim. Immediately above the door is an inlaid nameplate bearing the name "Grant" in polychromic Mosiac Tile, manufactured locally. The rear elevation features a similar, though much less ornate, projecting pavilion. At either corner of the facade are the buildings' most outstanding features, cylindrical towers rising to a height above the roofline. These towers are rather restrained in their ornament until they break over the roofline; at that point they are trimmed with polychromic tile, corbeled brickwork, a small modillioned cornice and a cervical metal cap and finial. Windows on Grant School are set in groups of twos and threes, with a double-hung sash below and a single light above. Immediately behind the towers is a shallow rounded bay which at the roofline becomes a wall dormer. Around most of the building is a metal cornice trimmed with modillions. The roof is set in multiple forms, including hips, gablets, and the aforementioned wall dormer. Handsome molded brick chimneys rise at the peak of the roof.
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