Vacant Elementary School Building in Haverford PA

Llanerch Public School, Haverford Township Pennsylvania

Date added: April 19, 2025

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

On November 13^th, 1904, the Haverford Township School Board purchased a tract of land in Llanerch for $2,450 to construct a public school. At the time, the population of Llanerch was approximately 100 people. By January 1905, the school's architects, Churchman and Thomas, were accepting bids for a 2-story stone school building measuring seventy-five feet by thirty-three feet. The 2-story brick building measured seventy-five feet by thirty-three feet and had only four rooms. It was constructed at an estimated cost of $10,000. The building was originally used as a high school but, in 1907, because of a rapidly increasing population, a grammar school teacher was placed in the building to accommodate "the population of the district [which was] rapidly increasing." Indeed, between 1900 and 1925, the population of Haverford Township had doubled.

A 1908 Baist Atlas shows that the school has been constructed and sits on a parcel that extends halfway south down the block toward Moewyn Road. The remainder of the Albertson parcel has also been subdivided into formal building lots, with approximately half containing residential buildings and the remainder largely empty.

In August 1912, plans were underway for the construction of what was initially referred to as an expansion to the now-grammar school at an estimated cost of $50,000. The new building was to be exclusively used as an elementary school. It was to consist of two stories and a basement and measure sixty-eight feet by 109 feet, triple the size of the previous school building. The architects were Wesley Blithe and Henry DeCourcey Richards, partners in the firm Blithe and Richards. While Blithe was better known for his residences and churches, Richards was a popular school architect and an expected choice for this era.

The contractor for the project was Patrick J. Hurley. It not clear which members of the firm, Blithe or Richards, were responsible for which design elements.

By April 1913, the plans had been finalized and, in May, Haverford Township approved a loan of $120,000 for the construction and renovation of three new schools, including the Llanerch Public School. In August 1913, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that construction was being rushed to be ready for the 1913-1914 school year. The article also stated that the building was to be in the Colonial Revival style and clad in Holmesburg granite. The interior was to have ten rooms, measuring twenty-four feet by eighty feet each with a total capacity for 450 students, which was twice as much as the earlier school building. It was also to have a library, basement and play rooms. To maximize interior space, two classrooms on the top floor could be combined into an Auditorium via a folding-door partition.

A 1913 map shows that the lot on which the school sits has also been doubled, extending it all the way to Moewyn Road, which was presumably done in conjunction with the new construction. In the surrounding neighborhood of Llanerch, additional residences have been constructed, as well as the Llanerch Presbyterian Church, near the center of the parcel. Subsequent maps show no change to the school lot but show additional construction in the Albertson parcel, primarily for residential use but also with limited commercial services, such as buildings for the First National Bank of Philadelphia and the Provident Trust Company.

The site operated as the Llanerch Public School for elementary school students from 1914 until 1977, when enrollment slowed and the school board subsequently relocated students within the district. Public ownership of the school was retained, however, and the space rented to various county agencies, including the Delaware County Intermediate Unit. In 1987, the Township acquired the building from the school district and, in 1988, the building was bought by the Stratford Friends School, which primarily served children with learning disabilities. Ownership of the southern half of the block - the open playground area - was retained by the Township. In 2009, the Stratford Friends School relocated and the building has been vacant since that time.

Architect Blithe and Richards

The architectural firm of Blithe and Richards had a very limited partnership that only overlapped for three Pennsylvania schools in Meadville (1914, demolished), Collingdale (1913, demolished) and Llanerch. Wesley Lesher Blithe (1873-1946) was trained at the University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He was known for his work on schools, over fifty residential buildings and for numerous churches, including the Fletcher Methodist Church at 54^th and Master Streets in Philadelphia and the Wharton Street Methodist Church at 54^th and Catherine Streets in Philadelphia. His other commissions in Llanerch included a house for Dr. I.B. Roberts in 1904 and an addition to the St. Andrew's M.E. Church, one block away, in 1922. Henry DeCourcey Richards (active 1906-1924) was a prolific school architect, who primarily worked in Philadelphia. Between 1905 and 1918, he was the chief designer of Philadelphia public schools and oversaw the construction of over forty schools during that period. He was also the consulting architect for the Pennsylvania State Board of Education in 1911, a position created by the School Code of Pennsylvania in that year and one that was required to review all plans and specifications for new school construction. Part of this appointment, as discussed above, was the development of the guidelines for the construction of one, two, three and four room school buildings. Other than the Meadville and Collingdale schools mentioned above, as well as the Philadelphia schools, Richards was associated with a number of less-local schools towards the end of his career. These included designs for an elementary school in Roanoke, VA, in 1920; Jefferson High School in Roanoke, VA, in 1922; a high school in Bridgeport Borough, PA, in 1922; a high school in Wayne, PA, in 1922; and a junior high school in Roanoke, VA, in 1923. Of these the only one that was ultimately constructed and it still standing if the Jefferson High School in Roanoke, VA. Constructed between 1922 and 1924, the Tudor Revival style building was Roanoke's largest high school from the time of its construction until 1974.

Building Description

The Llanerch Public School is situated at the southeast corner of Llandillo and Darby Roads in Havertown, PA, and faces north to Llandillo Road in a planned residential neighborhood of detached early 20^th Century homes. The first school on this site was constructed in 1905. The current building, which was constructed between 1913 and 1914, heavily adapted this earlier design, leaving virtually none of the earlier building other than some structural members and a relocated cupola. The new 2 ½-story school was designed in the Colonial Revival style by the firm Blithe and Richards and complements the styles and influences of the surrounding houses and other buildings. It has a squat, T-shaped footprint, a low-pitched hipped roof, and is clad in randomly laid granite blocks with terra cotta, sandstone, limestone and wood detailing. Prominent stone chimneys rise above the roof, and the rear (south elevation) includes three dormers. The main entrance is emphasized by a three-part tower with a terra cotta-surrounded entry topped by a multi-light wood fanlight. All elevations feature a prominent, denticulated painted cornice and a limestone water table. In keeping with school design of the era, prominent banks of windows indicate classroom locations. Between the school's north elevation and Llandillo Road is a paved, U-shaped driveway bisected by a concrete walkway; this drive and walkway provide the only vehicular access to the property. The front (north) yard includes low plantings flanking the walks and ornamental and shade trees. To the east of the school building is a paved parking lot, set back from Llandillo Road behind single-family homes, surrounded by a chain link fence along Lansdowne Road and the rear and side yards of the residential neighbors. A concrete retaining wall topped by a chain link fence stretches the western length of the property, along Darby Road. South of the school building is a grassy playground and yard, dotted with trees, historically associated with the school but now on a separate lot, owned by the Township and serving as a small public park. The play area extends from a short paved swath along the school's rear elevation to Moewyn Road, and is bounded by a low stone retaining wall topped by a chain link fence.

The school's north (primary) elevation, facing Llandillo Road, is five bays wide. The three center bays are part of the section of the building that protrudes from the main block. The main entrance to the building, in the center of the north elevation, is prominently marked by a three-level arrangement that becomes a short tower. The entrance consists of a double-leaf glazed wood door with 5-light wood sidelights and a tall 3/12/3 wood transom, in wood surrounds. The entrance is accessed by four granite steps with granite wing walls and a painted wrought metal railing. Surrounding the doorway is a prominent terra cotta surround with flanking engaged Doric columns, a denticulated entablature and a centered blank tablet. The underside of the entablature has a single contemporary light fixture. Immediately above the doorway entablature is an arched multi-light wood window that fills the second story and rises above the roof line. The three-part window (with replacement sash), is topped by a multi-light wood fanlight with transom, and all are set in a continuous wood surround with Doric pilasters and a keystone. Above the window feature is a large rectangular stone plaque, which reads "Llanerch School/Haverford Township." Above the plaque the tower is capped with a hipped roof with wide eaves.

Flanking the entryway and "tower" on the first and second floors are two banks of four window openings with limestone surrounds and continuous limestone heads and sills. The window sash are recent aluminum replacements. The window groupings largely fill the elevation, and were designed to light the classrooms and office. The ends of the elevation, which house the stairways, are set back from the projecting north portion of the building. The first floors of both ends provide access to the stairwells, and project slightly to create vestibule entrances with standing seam metal shed roofs and painted wood cornices. Both entrances consist of a double-leaf two-panel, two-light wood door with a continuous 4-light fixed wood transom. The entrances are accessed by three granite steps. Above the shed roof over each entrance, on the second floor, is a window (recent replacement sash) with a fanlight above set in a rounded stone arch with keystone. The windows have limestone sills.

The north elevation's basement is slightly above grade, allowing for basement windows and a basement-level entrance. The basement windows have limestone heads and sandstone sills with replacement sash. The partially below grade basement entrance is west of the main entrance, and is accessed by an open straight-run set of concrete steps with a painted metal railing. The entrance consists of a single-leaf glazed replacement door with a limestone lintel, and leads into a mechanical room. A date stone, reading "1913" is located immediately west of the basement entrance, on the corner of the building facing north.

The west elevation, facing Darby Road, and the east elevation, facing the parking lot, are virtually identical. The north ends of these side elevations are set back from the main block. The stair towers are each lighted by a tall window element consisting of a first-floor window with a stone sill, a blank wood panel immediately above that extending to the bottom of the second floor window, with the second floor window topped by a fanlight, set within a rounded arch with keystone. The other west and east side window openings are individual or grouped windows with stone sills and heads. All of the windows contain replacement sash, with the exception of the east end's basement openings, which have been filled with plywood.

The south elevation, facing the playground and lawn, is three bays wide. The first and second floors both contain three banks of windows lighting classrooms, with four windows in each grouping. The window openings match those on the north elevation, with limestone surrounds and continuous stone heads and sills. The window sash is all replacement. The raised basement provides low windows lighting the cafeteria and two matching off-center entrances into the basement level. There are six evenly spaced basement window openings, with stone heads and sills, but the eastern-most opening is blind, with only a stone head-this opening is filled with granite block. The existing window sash is replacement. The basement entrances each consist of a double-leaf glazed and paneled wood door with an iron lintel. The doors, which are located partially-below grade, are accessed by concrete steps with concrete and granite cheek walls and painted metal pipe railings. There is a mechanical unit at the west end of the south elevation, which is encircled by a chain link fence. A paved area extends from the south elevation approximately 10 feet until it meets the grassy lawn and play area.

The roof of the building has a gable on hip form with three hipped dormers on the south elevation. Prominent stone chimneys rise above the roof and the center section is topped by an octagonal wooden cupola clad in copper that also dates to 1905). This is the only portion of the original building campaign that remains visible. It is possible to assume that there are at least some original structural elements that were retained, but these are not readily visible on the interior.

Although no original plans of the building remain, it is possible to assume that there were originally five classrooms on each floor with various storage and closet areas for each classroom. On the 2^nd floor, two of these classrooms, located in the southwest corner of the floor plate, could be combined into a single larger space. A movable wood partition remains in this location. In the center of the north elevation on the 2 floor, over the main entrance, was a distinct space, which was likely originally used as administrative or teacher space, or perhaps the library. The basement likely originally contained open play areas, service areas and mechanical areas, along with the building's only bathrooms, in the southwest and southeast corners. Evidence of this presumed floor plan remains, supported by period documentation.

In 1988, the Stratford Friends School moved into the building and completed some renovations to the building, which primarily involved installing some linoleum tile flooring, dropped acoustical tile ceilings in classrooms and some halls, and fluorescent lighting throughout. It is not known whether or not any original finishes remain beneath the linoleum flooring or dropped ceilings. Some original pendant lights remain in the stairwells. There were no major changes to the overall configuration of the interior floorplan, including the hallways, stairways and classroom spaces, although a few of the latter have been bisected over the years.

The interior of the building is arranged around a wide, double-loaded centered hallway that extends from east to west. The hallway finishes consist of linoleum tile flooring, plaster walls, painted plaster and dropped acoustical tile ceilings, painted partial wainscoting, fluorescent lighting and 2-light 3-panel, single-leaf painted wood classroom doors with painted wood surrounds and historically operable 4-light painted wood transoms. The vestibule doors have the same configuration, but have been varnished instead of painted.

The former classroom spaces are located on the 1^st and 2^nd floors to the north and south of the hallway. They are arranged in a linear configuration but most were divided in half when the Stratford Friends School occupied the building. This alternation is most apparent in the baseboards, which are of different configurations on opposite sides of the room. No new hallway doors were added during this time. On the 1^st floor, the administrative spaces are located in the northwest corner. This, however, is likely not the original location - given the degree of contemporary fabric - and the administrative space was likely originally in the center of the north elevation on the 2 floor, in the location of the current bathroom and office space. On the 2 floor, there is one double-width room in the southwest corner. The classroom finishes consist of carpeted, linoleum tile and wood floors, plaster and drywall partitions, original painted wood baseboard, chair rail and window sills, contemporary painted wood baseboard, fluorescent lighting and a combination of original and contemporary blackboards. The

original blackboards are primarily located on the original dividing walls between the classrooms. In select locations, the closets and glazed wood doors, as well as painted wood doors and transoms to match those in the hallways, also remain.

The basement also has a general east-west hallway but it is partially open on the south side. There are mechanical rooms to the north and an open, multi-purpose space to the south. The finishes in the mechanical space are entirely utilitarian. The finishes in the multi-purpose space are contemporary, and consist of linoleum tile flooring, plaster and drywall partitions, exposed painted brick columns, a dropped acoustical tile ceiling and fluorescent lighting. There is also a kitchen at the west end of the multi-purpose space and bathrooms in the southeast and southwest corners. Although the finishes are contemporary, these are likely the original bathroom locations and the only ones initially in the building. On the east and west ends of the south elevation are steps that exit directly to the outside and which, presumably, were used by the students for outdoor access.

At the east and west ends of the main hallway are the two primary, U-return stairways, which extend between all floors. The stairs have slate treads and painted metal risers and railings. They are separated from the hallways either by original double-leaf paneled and glazed varnished wood doors or double-leaf, multi-light metal doors with substantial multi-light metal surrounds. These latter elements appear to have been added in the mid-20^th Century. The stairwells were lit both by the adjacent windows and artificial lighting. Some of the original pendant lights remain. In the basement, the east and west ends of the south elevation have three concrete steps that lead up to a landing and access the exterior doors. There is no elevator.