Building Description Hetland School, Hetland South Dakota
The Hetland School is located in the town of Hetland in Kingsbury County. The town is situated one mile north of Highway 14 and is surrounded by gently rolling agricultural land. The school building is located on the eastern edge of town and is surrounded by agricultural land on the south and west, and by residential areas on the north and east. The school grounds are encircled by large trees along the perimeter, with a dirt road and sidewalk on the eastern edge. Also situated on the grounds is playground equipment, consisting of original swings, a merry-go-round, and see-saws, and a non-original slide. The school is a two-story building plus a basement and measures 52' x 68' with a projecting front entry bay measuring 14'4" x 6'. The school, which was built in 1904, was originally 52' x 40'. In 1920, a 52' x 28' addition was added to the north end of the building. The school is constructed of wood clapboard with a granite block foundation under the original portion, and a concrete foundation under the addition. There have been very minimal alterations to either the exterior or interior of the school. The Hetland School retains a high degree of integrity of location, setting, design, materials, and workmanship, and conveys the feeling and association of its past environment.
The Hetland School, constructed in 1904, is a two-story building with a basement and measures 52' x 68' with an extended front facing gabled entry bay. The building has wood clapboard siding that is painted white, and a flat-topped hip roof with an intersecting front gabled roof over the entry, both of which are covered with new, gray asphalt shingles.
The south facade of the school has a centered, two-story projecting front gabled entry bay measuring 14'4" x 6'. A set of concrete steps leads to double wooden doors flanked by narrow one-over-one side lights. The doors and side lights are all slightly recessed into an arched opening, with the area above filled in with narrow bead board. The arch was originally open, creating a small porch which covered the original entry. The arch was filled in with the doors, side lights, and bead board at an unknown date. The original interior entry doors are still present, creating a double entry. On the second story, above the outside entry, are two round arched windows with hood molding. The top sash's have been filled in with wood and painted white, while the bottom panes still have glass. Above the windows, the gable is pedimented with a centered segmental window which has been filled in with wood and painted white, and fish scale shingle siding. Sitting atop the gabled roof is a square bell tower with a pyramid roof with wide overhanging eaves. The roof is covered with green asphalt shingles. Each of the four sides of the bell tower are divided into two square openings. In the upper corners of each opening are ornate scrolled brackets, which give the openings an arched appearance.
The south facade is symmetrical, with the window placement on each side of the projecting front entry identical. On each side of the entry are four windows, two windows on the first floor and two on the second floor. All of the windows are one-over-one double-hung windows surrounded by wood molding. To the west of the entry, the two windows on the first floor are both filled with wood painted white, while on the second floor only the bottom sashes of each window are filled in with wood. To the east of the entry, the second floor window closest to the entry has wood covering the bottom sash. The other three windows are uncovered and fully glazed. On the foundation, three courses of granite block are visible. On both sides of the entry, there is a basement window that is centered between the two windows above on the first floor. Both basement windows are covered over with wood.
The east elevation is symmetrically divided into five bays, with the window arrangement on both the first and second floors being identical. Starting from left to right, the first bay contains a single one-over-one double-hung window surrounded by wood molding on both the first and second floors. The bottom sash of the first floor window is covered with wood. Attached to the building at the second floor window is a small wooden landing surrounded by a wooden railing on two sides, with an opening on the third side that leads to a wooden ladder that is attached to the side of the building, leading down to the ground. The second bay contains pairs of segmental-arched one-over-one double-hung windows that are similar to the arched windows on the front facade. However, instead of having an arched hood molding like the windows on the front, the windows on the east elevation share a single, square molding which encompasses both windows. The centered third bay contains single one-over-one double-hung windows surrounded by wood molding. A few feet to the north of the windows is a pipe attached to the side of the building. The pipe marks where the addition was added in 1920 to the north end of the building. The foundation on the south side of the pipe is granite block, whereas on the north side of the pipe it is concrete. The fourth bay is identical to the second bay, with pairs of segmental-arched one-over-one double-hung windows with a single, square molding. The fifth bay contains single one-over-one double-hung windows surrounded by wood molding. The window on the first floor is filled in with wood, and the bottom sash of the second floor window is covered as well. There are five basement windows that are centered in each of the five bays and have all been covered with wood.
The north elevation is also arranged symmetrically. Centered in the elevation is a wooden, six paneled door with a transom above that has been filled with wood. There is a wooden two step stoop leading to the door. On either side of the central door are four windows centered on the wall. There are two windows on the first floor and two on the second. All of the windows on the first floor have been filled in with wood, and two of the windows on the second floor have been partially covered.
The west elevation is almost identical to the east elevation, being divided into five bays with the window arrangement on both the first and second floors being identical. All of the windows on the first floor have been filled in with wood. Starting from left to right, the first bay contains a single one-over-one double-hung window surrounded by wood molding on both the first and second floors. The second bay contains pairs of segmental-arched one-over-one double-hung windows with a single, square molding which encompasses both windows. The upper sashes of the second floor windows have been filled in with wood. The centered third bay contains single one-over-one double-hung windows surrounded by wood molding. The fourth bay is identical to the second bay, with pairs of segmental-arched one-over-one double-hung windows with a single, square molding. The windows on the second floor have been partially covered. The fifth bay contains a single one-over-one double-hung window surrounded by wood molding on the first floor, and a single, five panel wooden door on the second floor. In historic photos, there were stairs leading from this door to the south, wrapping around the corner of the building to the front, and leading to the ground. Above the door is the framing for a transom, but the glass is gone. There is one basement window located at the north end of the elevation. Visible from this elevation is the red brick chimney located on the west side of the flat roof area. Additionally, the roof on the west elevation has not been replaced yet with the new gray shingles as the other elevations have been, and instead is covered with old, green asphalt shingles. In several areas the shingles are missing and the old wooden shingles are visible. The areas with missing shingles have allowed water to enter the building, which has caused extensive water damage on the interior of the upper floor.
At the south end of the elevation there are concrete stairs leading down to a wooden door that enters into the basement. The stairs are flanked on each side by concrete coal chutes; two on the north and one on the south. All three of the coal chutes have hinged, wooden lids that are now covered with tin. The concrete chutes and the lids are all painted white to match the building. Also located on this elevation, near the centered bay, is an old metal fuel tank with a copper hose which leads into the basement. In the late 1940s, the school switched from burning coal for steam heat to fuel stoves.
In addition to the building itself, there are other remnants from the schools past that remain on the grounds. There are still remnants of the concrete sidewalk that was installed in 1913 and surround the building on the west and south sides, as well as following along the street on the east side. On the west side of the building, leading off from the sidewalk is another sidewalk which leads from the school to an area that appears to contain the remains of the old outhouse. There are three concrete surrounded openings that are still visible in the ground which have been filled in with dirt. There is no structural remains left. Also, in the southwest corner of the grounds is historic playground equipment, including a slide, swings, an old wooden merry-go-round, and see-saws. All of the equipment is original to the school, dating from the 1940s, except for the slide. The playground equipment is maintained by local citizens.
The main entry on the south facade leads into a central hallway running south to north which ends at a set of girls and boys bathrooms approximately in the middle of the building. On either side of the central hall is a classroom, approximately 21x29 in size. These classrooms originally housed the elementary grades. To the north of these classrooms, and accessed through a doorway in each room, is a hallway running west to east which contains a double set of stairs to the second floor. The stairs begin near the center of the building with one climbing to the west and one climbing to the east. Leading off from the hallway is another hallway running south to north which leads to the back door on the north elevation. On either side of the hallway is a classroom. These classrooms were also used for elementary grades.
On the second floor, the stairs lead to a central hallway directly above the hallway on the first floor. However, the hallway does not run the full width of the building but has a small office built into the center of the hall. Historically, this was the Principle's office. The attic and bell tower are accessed through a trap door in the ceiling of this room. At the top of each stairway there is a doorway both to the left and right (south and north). The southern doors lead to two classrooms that are connected to each other by very large pocket doors in a north-south wall. These rooms were originally used for the high school classes. To the south of the classrooms is a small room that is located in the area of the projecting front entry. The room was used as the school library and is accessed by a doorway from the classroom on the west side of the building. The north doorways from the stairs lead into the gymnasium, which encompasses the entire north end of the second floor.
The interior of the building retains an extraordinarily high level of integrity. Almost all of the original materials still remain, including the wooden floors, wooden doors and their original hardware, the wooden molding around the doors and windows, the stairway railings and balusters, and the engraved steam heat radiators. Many pieces of original furniture remain as well, including old desks, bookcases, trophy cases, clocks, etc. In the gymnasium, the old wood basketball floor remains, as well as the balcony that runs along the south, east, and west sides of the gym. The building also houses artifacts including books, sports uniforms, office ledgers, and old documents.
Although the interior has maintained a high level of integrity of materials, the condition of the building is severely deteriorated. Problems with the roof have allowed water to enter the building and the water damage is severe in some areas. The west side of the second floor, where the roof has not been replaced yet, appears to have the worst water damage. In the west classroom, the hallway, and the gymnasium, the plaster on the ceilings and outside walls is falling off and the boards beneath are rotting. The wooden floors are buckling into waves. The water damage from the second floor is also seeping down into the first floor rooms below with the same effect, though not as severe. The building has been and continues to be vandalized, with numerous balusters in the stairway having been removed or broken. The main problem, however, is the foundation wall on the north end of the building. This is the foundation under the area that was an addition in 1920. The foundation is constructed out of concrete, instead of rock like the original portion of the school. The north wall of the foundation is literally breaking in half horizontally down the middle and caving into the basement. This is also visible from the outside of the building on the north elevation where the foundation wall is angling in toward the building. The current caretakers are exploring options to temporarily fix the problem to keep the foundation from caving in any further until the funds can be raised to permanently repair the foundation.
