Help with identifying a building...

[eleny]

I got an email from a friend with all sorts of "remember when" photos. Stuff like pictures of Black Jack chewing gum and candy cigarettes.

This one picture of a building eludes us. Does anyone know what it is?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. It is obviously a school

Note the fire chute on the side of the building. Schools I went to had them.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. flat land, few trees...

I'd say on the Plains somewhere. 1910-ish?

[eleny]

3. And something that's supposed to be real obvious to the "remember when" crowd of today

I keep thinking of schools in tv shows. This is definitely not the Welcome Back Kotter school since that was in Brooklyn and surrounded by buildings in the neighborhood. And not the one Beaver Cleaver went to either since I think they were in a warmer climate.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. Well, aside from the Mission style detail, it looks like a typical 1900-1920

box-style school. The ones in the East and South used local details, so I'm gonna guess it's in the SW Plains somewhere. Maybe it's just supposed to represent all old schools?

[eleny]

4. Thanks for chute thing!

My old catholic school didn't have one in Queens, NY, so was wondering about that. And like VLR pointed out - no trees so probably the midwest.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. Oh yeah

The fire chutes were used in the Midwest where I grew up. Area looks flat enough to be central Illinois.

[Warpy]

5. It looks a little like the old Indian School here in town

but the land is far too flat.

My guess is that the guy who designed it can take credit for a whole lot of schools in flyover country.

[whistle]

8. It looks like an eight room school with a basement for utilities and storage

...almost identical to the elementary school I went to in Southern Ontario but that school had just four classrooms and was only a single story with a basement. Later they added an annex of four additional class rooms to the back. I would guess is the building in the photo above was built in the early 20th century perhaps between 1901 to 1912.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

9. Maxwell Public School - Maxwell, Nebraska

The New Maxwell Public School Built in 1912
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://www.geocities.com/aolsen_2000/MaxwellSchool.htm&h=427&w=600&sz=109&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=SYbU6ntJ1CYzAM:&tbnh=96&tbnw=135&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2Bold%2Bschool%2Bfire%2Bescape%26gbv%3D2%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG

[eleny]

12. Thanks!!!

As DUers have suggested - I think it's supposed to represent the architecture we all can recognize when we're "a certain age". But this is so cool to know exactly what the building is. I'll share this around with friends who have the email. Thanks a million!!!

[Bozita]

14. Viva, how in hell did you do that?

That's incredible.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. Looks almost identical to the school I went to ... Fairfield, near London, Ohio.

[whistle]

11. Compare to these....

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/hpc/docs/chapter2.pdf

http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/feature/afam/2004/dcschools.htm

[eleny]

13. The brick and mortar of my youth!