Abandoned Elementary School building in SC

Winyah Indigo School, Georgetown South Carolina

Date added: November 26, 2023 Categories:

Principal facade (South elevation) (1987)

Winyah Indigo (Graded) School evolved from the Winyah Indigo Society School, established "for the good of the community," ca. 1753, by the Winyah Indigo Society. Though not chartered by King George III until 1757, the Society was formed as a "Convivial Club" in 1740 by the indigo and rice planters of the Georgetown area as a forum for talking over the latest news from London and "hold(ing) high discourse over the growth and prosperity of the Indigo plant..." With initiation fees and mandatory annual contributions, the Society established an "Independent Charity School for the Poor," a so-called "free school," one of the first such schools in the United States.

After 1857, this school operated in the Winyah Indigo Society Hall on Prince Street, completed in that year. Although the Civil War disrupted operation of the school, it became functional once again in 1872. In 1885 the state legislature enacted a bill authorizing the establishment of the Winyah Indigo School District. Two years later the Indigo Society's school was merged with the public graded school. This new school was housed in the Society's hall on the corner of Prince and Cannon Streets until the 1908 building was constructed.

In 1907, the Board of Trustees of the Winyah Indigo School District purchased land on the corner of Highmarket and Cleland Streets from the Parker family for the purpose of constructing a graded school. This purchase and the cost for erecting the school were financed with money from issued bonds generated through the National Park Bank of New York and designated as a "White Tax" fund and a "Bond Fund."

The architectural firm of Wilson, Sompayrac, and Urquhart of Columbia was selected to prepare plans for the building. Charles Coker Wilson (1864-1933) senior partner of this firm, was perhaps the most prominent architect in South Carolina during the period in which the Winyah Indigo School was built. He designed many educational and other public buildings throughout the Southeast, was the architect for the completion of the South Carolina State House (1902-1907), and served as architect for the University of South Carolina from 1908-1915. He was the preeminent founding member of the South Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, serving as its first president in 1913. John Jefferson Cain, prominent Columbia contractor who built the Palmetto Building and many other significant structures in Columbia and the state, was chosen to construct the Winyah Indigo School at a cost of $30,000. Construction began in the summer of 1907 and was completed by April 1908, at which time it was hailed as "The Finest School Building in the State." This new building contained twelve classrooms, eight cloakrooms, and a 600-seat auditorium.

When the school moved into its new building in 1908, the City of Georgetown severed its ties with the Winyah Indigo Society, thus establishing for the first time in Georgetown a public graded school separate from the Society's school. At that time the County Board of Trustees consisted of the following: Edwin W. Kaminski, chairman; Edward W. Haselden, secretary; C. L. Ford, James Savage, Edward J. Whelan, E. Marion Doar, and Hugh Oliver. William C. Bynum served as principal over the ten grades housed in this building when it opened. Total enrollment for those grades numbered 382 in 1908.

Considered at that time to be ample for all future needs, these new quarters soon became cramped. With the addition in 1912 of an eleventh grade, the installation of a commercial department in 1914, and increased enrollment, it became necessary to move the high school in 1919 to a nearby large frame building on Highmarket Street once occupied by the Georgetown Hospital.

By 1923 though, the County Board of Trustees saw the need for a modern high school building. Enrollment in the 1922-1923 scholastic year had reached 550 pupils, and by the 1923-1924 year the number had grown to 660. It was projected that the 1924-1925 scholastic year would see a total enrollment of more than 750 students. The trustees, therefore, acted accordingly and commissioned David B. Hyer, of Charleston, to design an addition for the high school. Cheves-Oliver Construction Company, also of Charleston, was awarded the construction contract for the building on October 31^st, 1923, in the amount of $43,480.00. A new heating system for the entire school was installed at this time by W. K. Prause of Charleston at a cost of $7,450.00, thus bringing the total cost to just under $51,000.00. William Thomson, a local contractor, supervised the high school's construction which began on November 15^th, 1923. This building was built on Cleland Street as an addition to the rear of the 1908 graded school, equaling it in size. The two school buildings were connected physically by the auditorium which was lengthened by thirty feet to a 1,000-seat capacity during the 1923-1924 construction. The new high school formally opened for use on September 22^nd, 1924.

The 1908 and 1924 buildings served the educational needs of the Georgetown area until 1938 when a large new high school was constructed immediately adjacent to the old graded school on Highmarket Street. Although the 1938 Winyah High School burned in 1981, the older buildings remained in use by the school until 1985, when it and Howard High School consolidated to form Georgetown High School, with a physical plant located elsewhere. On October 10^th, 1985, the school district transferred ownership of the Winyah Indigo School campus to Georgetown County Council, which began to study future use for the site. For a number of years, the 1924 high school section has been occupied by the Georgetown Extension of Coastal Carolina College of the University of South Carolina, thus continuing its use for educational purposes. Due to fears that all or part of the building might be demolished, a group of concerned citizens, many of whom were graduates of the school, organized in 1986 the Georgetown Auditorium Preservation Society (GAPS). This group, which has substantial local support, is presently working with Georgetown County Council to preserve the building and put it to the best possible use. The Higher Education Commission of Georgetown has already expressed interest in utilizing the entire school for educational purposes.

Building Description

The Winyah Indigo School is located at the corner of Highmarket and Cleland Streets in Georgetown, S. C. The irregularly-shaped, two-story building is comprised of three sections. The oldest portion, the 1908 graded school, fronts onto Highmarket Street. Extending from the rear of this portion, but recessed from the wall plane, is the auditorium.

A high school addition was built in 1924, further extending the building to the rear. The auditorium links the graded school and the high school. Although it was originally part of the graded school, the auditorium was lengthened by thirty feet in the 1924 building project. The building extends along Highmarket Street for approximately 110 feet and along Cleland Street for approximately 225 feet.

The entire masonry building rests on a raised masonry and concrete foundation. The foundation is separated from the exterior brick wails by a concrete stringcourse. The low hip roof of the building is covered with asbestos shingles. A full basement is located beneath the grade school.

Main Facade

The main facade of the original 1908 grade school faces southwest onto Highmarket Street. This facade is fenestrated with regularly spaced rectangular window openings featuring concrete sills. The double-hung sash windows (currently boarded over) have one-over-one lights. The central section of this facade is set back and dominated by a pedimented, two-story portico, approached by a flight of concrete steps. Four masonry columns support the gabled portico roof. A louvered wood vent is placed in the oculus of the portico gable. The portico shelters the centrally placed entrance. The double entry doors are slightly recessed beneath a pediment that echos the main portico pediment. The upper half of the two-panel doors are divided into twelve lights. The doors are flanked by sidelights and surmounted by a transom divided into four lights. Suspended on a chain from the tongue and groove ceiling of the portico is an original light fixture. A denticulated wood cornice extends the circumference of the building, while the pediments of both the main portico and the entrance also feature denticulations.

Southeast (Cleland Street) Facade

All three sections of the building are visible from Cleland Street. At the south end (next to Highmarket Street) is a side entrance to the graded school. This secondary entrance is sheltered by a small pedimented portico. Two wood columns support the portico roof. The wooden double doors are surmounted by a transom. Double, solid wood exit doors, located on the second floor above the first floor entrance, lead to a metal fire escape extending to the ground level.

At the north end of this facade is the primary entrance to the high school. Wood piers support a full entablature, surmounted by a decorative iron balustrade, forming the entrance portico. This shelters wooden double doors surmounted by a transom. Directly above the entry is a twelve-over-twelve light, double hung sash window with a semicircular fanlight transom. This entrance is centrally located. To the south side of the entrance, on each floor, is a band of six sash windows, double hung, with six-over-six lights. There are no windows to the north side of the entry. Instead, a rectangular brick panel is formed on each floor through decorative brickwork accented at each corner with small stone blocks.

The auditorium is recessed between the grade school and high school wings. This facade contains six windows, each two stories in height, which feature double hung sash on either side of a large vertical mullion, and three-paned semicircular fanlight transoms. At least four of these contain six-over-six lights. Double exit doors are located beneath windows on the auditorium facade, at the extreme south and midway points; these contain four-over-four lights. A one story brick projection is located at the corner where the 1908 graded school and auditorium meet. This projection served as one of the restrooms for the auditorium.

Northwest facade

This facade is identical to the southeast facade. It provides secondary entrances to the grade and high schools, as well as the auditorium.

Northeast facade

This facade is fenestrated on each floor with four bays of grouped windows. The double hung, sash windows have six-over-six lights. A one story brick and concrete block projection from this facade contains the heating equipment. Two exterior brick chimneys are located on this facade.

Interior

The primary entrance, from Highmarket Street, opens into a foyer that leads through an arch to the first floor hallway. School offices flank the foyer. At each end of the hallway are solid, double, wooden doors to the outside. Four large classrooms, with four cloakrooms (coat closets) adjoining, are located on the main hall of the first floor. Two cloakrooms are located across from each other at each end of the main hallway. The ones to the north side contain passageways with steps leading to restrooms on the ground level. Vestibules are located between the cloakrooms and main classrooms. From the foyer, the focal point of the main hall is the stairway. Wood piers flank these steps which lead up to a divided balustraded stairway providing access to the second floor.

The auditorium is located directly behind the foyer and stairs. Its entrance is through double doors, with glass and wooden panels, on either side of the central stairway. These lead to the two aisles on the main floor of the auditorium. Narrow wooden boards make up the floors that slope gradually to the stage. There are 500 orchestra seats on the main level. Three cast iron columns support the balcony. An orchestra pit, used until the mid-1950s, has been covered. The proscenium is framed by two monumental Ionic pilasters on either side of the stage with classical entablature. It can be reached by three steps on either side. Footlights that were recessed at the front of the stage have been temporarily covered. All stage equipment, including backdrops, velvet curtains, floodlights, etc., is intact. Double paneled wooden doors lead from the back of the stage into the corridor of the 1924 high school building. Six tall, multi-pained mullioned windows with fanlight transoms dominate each side wali of the auditorium. Between each window is a monumental plaster Doric pilaster, to which have been attached wall lighting and wall-hung radiators. The ceiling has been slightly lowered with suspended, metal stripped acoustical tile; however, the original ceiling with a large, ornate medallion is still intact. Two wide, single doors, like the main entrance doors to the auditorium, are to each side of the stage and lead to the interior of the 1924 high school building. Double wooden exit doors are located beneath the third and sixth windows.

The plan of the second floor of the 1908 graded school building is arranged very similarly to the first, with four classrooms and four cloakrooms. From the second floor hall, the central portion of which is a balustraded balcony, a freestanding flight of steps lead to the paneled double-doored entrance to the auditorium balcony.

Approximately 250 balcony seats are affixed on either side of a central aisle on four graduated levels. A metal pipe rail is attached to the top of the wooden balcony barricade.

The interior of the 1924 high school addition is similar in materials and workmanship to that of the original 1908 building. Walls are of plaster and wood, and the floors are hardwood. The wainscoting and hardware are relatively intact in the ten classrooms, two coat closets and two restrooms. Changes made to these areas by Coastal Carolina College of the University of South Carolina are for the most part temporary. Access to the 1908 building is through the auditorium.