Vacant Elementary School closed since 1960
Stevens School, York Pennsylvania

The six-classroom Stevens School building was erected in 1889-90 at a contracted cost of $15,985, or approximately $2665 per classroom. This makes Stevens the second most expensive primary school (per room) to be erected in York before the turn of the century, the most expensive being the Central School of 1896 at $2962 per room. Even these budgets, however, were not liberal. Stevens was erected in the beginning stage of a school building binge in York that lasted until the 1920s. Between 1888 and 1920, due to a 140% increase in population, sixteen elementary schools were erected in York, in addition to the twenty-five-room high school, which included a sizeable auditorium. Elementary schools such as Stevens were generally without facilities for public gatherings and for specialized classes. The structures were meant, above all, to provide shelter for the instruction of reading, writing, arithmetic and a few other basic subjects for six hours per day. Above instruction in the obvious basic skills and moral values, the school had no social "mission", social life still centered around the church.
Stevens School closed its doors to public education in December of 1960. Considering the extent of change in the official position concerning what role the public schools were to play in society, it is remarkable that the school remained open as long as it did. A 1946 school building survey prepared for the York City School District by William E. Arnold and Theodore L. Keller of the University of Pennsylvania gives some indication of the pronounced shift in values regarding public schools:
The buildings were also criticized for not being "conducive to the development of a modern educational program", which was to place more emphasis on social intercourse and the "art of living", and less on traditional course work. "In many instances, it appears that the buildings are determining what is done educationally - rather than as should be the case - the buildings being an expression of educational needs."
Further consolidation was encouraged to show the rate of growth in cost per pupil while providing more complete facilities, and much was made over the new social role of the schools as community centers after school hours, and as centers for adult education. All these factors combined caused buildings such as Stevens School to be deemed archaic and wholly inadequate for post World War II educational purposes.
The building was designed by the York architectural firm of John A. and Reinhardt Dempwolf, and is probably the finest remaining Richardsonian Romanesque school building in York County. John Dempwolf started his architectural practice in York in 1874, and was joined by his brother Reinhardt about ten years later. As a team, they designed hundreds of buildings, most of them within a fifty-mile radius of York, and are responsible for many of the most architecturally significant buildings in York City and County. Their ideas received additional exposure and longevity through their seven students, all of whom went on to start practices of their own in the York area, and some of whom also became successful in a regional sense.
In the Stevens School, the Dempwolfs used the standard Richardsonian vocabulary in an individualistic and budget-conscious way. The classroom, wings of the structure, aside from the subtle grouping of the windows, are hardly Richardsonian at all. Richardsonian elements are concentrated in the central facade pavilion, in the stair hall block, on the wall dormers, and on the roof and chimneys. In spite of the dearth of the Richardsonian elements on the classroom areas, and despite the eccentric, some might say unresolved, massing of the structure, particularly in the rear, the Stevens School manages to be a cohesive, shorthand statement of Richardson's major tenets, and a successful compromise between budget and style.
Building Description
The Stevens School is a two-and-one-half-story, common bond red-orange brick, six-classroom building constructed in a Latin cross plan. The roof is hipped, slated, has terra-cotta ridge and hip cresting, and has three central chimneys. The structure is set back from the sidewalk, is freestanding, and dominates a streetscape of 2½ to 3-story brick and frame, gable and mansard-roofed rowhouses.
The architectural composition rises from a randomly coursed, native limestone foundation, pointed with dark, reddish-brown mortar. The foundation, along with several courses of brick, forms a water table for the structure, adding a sense of horizontal solidity. This horizontality is reinforced by the string courses between the first and second floors and just above the second-floor windows, the dentiled brick cornice, and the numerous brownstone sill and lintel courses.
The various functions of the interior spaces of the structure, i.e. classrooms vs. auxiliary areas, are expressed candidly on the exterior by differences in the massing and ornamentation. The classroom areas are handled in a fairly straightforward manner. These measure four bays by four bays and have 6/6 windows topped by segmental arches. For added visual interest the bays are subtly grouped.
The gable-roofed, parapetted wall dormers are the only distinguishably Richardsonian elements on the classroom wings. They feature Palladian window motifs and blocky, mostly brownstone, bartizan-like corner supports, which are centered over the wider piers beneath. The supports emphasize the vertical and repeat the massive central chimneys in their proportions and horizontal banding. In addition, their knob-like caps, as well as the wedge-like "finials" at the peaks of the gable parapets repeat the terra cotta caps on the hip peaks, a subtle, but effective device.
The auxiliary areas of the structure are set apart from the classroom wings by their comparative eccentricity. The facade pavilion, which houses cloakrooms and the front half of the second-floor library, is the most distinctive part of the building. Here the cornice is at a higher level than on the classroom wings, and the dormer is somewhat larger. Windows vary from the standard form used in classrooms. Brownstone is much more evident than in other areas of the building, including the use of brownstone sill and lintel courses. The focal points of the facade are the gaping Syrian-arched portal and the front wall dormer, whose lunette is surrounded by a larger sunrise motif of radiating stretchers echoing the entryway.
The rear stair hall is also expressed on the exterior of the building. Here the dentiled cornice is at a lower level than on the classroom wings and the only windows are small, 4/4, round-arched, and paired. The rear Queen Anne/Eastlake perches, with their turned columns and decorative frieze boards, make up the only wooden decorative features on the exterior of the structure.
The building was constructed with masonry load-bearing walls separating classrooms from hallways. Although wooden joists span the classroom ceilings and form the attic rafter system, the hallways are fireproof. The construction of the slate-covered masonry first-floor hall can be seen from below as brick barrel vaults supported with large metal I beams. The concrete floored basement with its approximately ten-foot high ceilings was used for storage, the boiler, and boys' and girls' restrooms.
The interior of the building is nearly as intact as the exterior. The focal point of the floor plan is a central stair hall. Here, two, three-run, open-well iron staircases, which replaced the original wooden stairs, lead to the second floor. This hall, while fairly large in scale, is intimate in feeling, due in large measure to the small scale of the round-arched windows and the low ceilings on the first-floor landings. Other interesting features on the interior include an angled teachers' alcove in the rear first-floor classroom, the library at the front of the second floor, and the numerous cloakrooms, some of which still contain their original coat hooks. The varnished woodwork throughout the building, including wainscoting, chair rails, multi-paned transoms, paneled doors, and door surrounds is as original and has never been painted.
Changes to the building are limited to the white paint of the exterior woodwork (originally dark brown), the black & white paint scheme of the exterior doors, the installation of plumbing in the basement with classroom sinks above, the replacement of the stairs in metal, the modernization of the heating system, and the covering of exterior grassy areas with macadam. The structure's integrity is excellent; even some of the copper gutters and enamel door numbers remain in place.

Teacher's alcove rear of 1st floor classroom (1983)

Main stair hall, west staircase (1983)

Second floor hallway looking into library (1983)

Front and west elevation (1983)
