| Additional Information: | CARVED STONE PANELS WHICH APPEAR AT INTERVALS ALONG THE EXTERIOR WALLS DISTINGUISH THIS THREE-STORY, FLAT-ROOFED SCHOOL BUILDING. THE BRICK STRUCTURE HAS BEEN ALTERED. THE LARGE WINDOW OPENIGNS HAVE BEEN EITHER FULLLY OR PARTIALLY ENCLOSED. TO THE WEST, A NEW ADDITION, AMONG OTHERS, HAS CHANGED THE FORMERLY RECTANGULAR PLAN CONFIGURATION. THE DODGEVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL, AS IT WAS KNOWN HISTORICALLY, IS PRESENTLY IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. (SEE BIB. REF. A). THE ARCHITECT OF THIS BUILDING WAS A. H. SIEWART. (SEE BIB. REF. B).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
DODGEVILLE'S FIRST SCHOOL WAS A PRIVATE INSTITUTION TAUGHT BY MARY RANGER AND LOCATED ON E. WALNUT STREET WHERE THE FORMER PETER SPANG RESIDENCE STANDS (201 E. WALNUT STREET, 45/35). VARIOUS OTHER BUILDINGS SERVED AS SCHOOLHOUSES UNTIL 1846, WHEN THE TOWN HALL (NO LONGER STANDING) WAS CONSTRUCTED AND SUBSEQUENTLY RENTED FOR USE. THREE YEARS LATER, SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 1 WAS ORGANIZED AND A SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS WAS NAMED. IN 1853, FOLLOWING THE ORGANIZATION OF A SECOND SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE FIRST PERMANENT SCHOOL BUILDINGS WERE CONSTRUCTED IN DODGEVILLE. THE OLD ROCK SCHOOL (914 BEQUETTE STREET, 48/11) AND THE GROVE SCHOOL (DEMOLISHED IN 1898) EXISTED INDEPENDENTLY AND SERVED MORE THAN 200 LOCAL CHILDREN. IN 1864, THE TWO SCHOOL DISTRICTS WERE UNITED THROUGH AN ACTION OF THE TOWN BOARD. AT THIS POINT THE ROCK AND GROVE SCHOOLS HOUSED THE PRIMARY AND INTERMEDIATE GRADES, WHILE THE TOWN HALL WAS RENTED FOR USE AS A HIGH SCHOOL. (SEE BIB. REF. C, D).
WITH ENROLLMENTS INCREASING RAPIDLY IN THE NEXT YEARS, PLANS FOR A NEW SCHOOL BUILDING ON W. CHAPEL STREET WERE ADVANCED. COMPLETED IN 1882 AND DESIGNED BY G. P. RANDALL OF CHICAGO, THE LARGE BRICK STRUCTURE REPLACED THE ROCK AND GROVE SCHOOLS WHICH WERE SOLD. IN 1890 A WING WAS ADDED TO HOUSE, THE KINDERGARTEN AND HIGH SCHOOL, BUT BY THE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY A MAJOR EXPANSION WAS AGAIN NECESSARY. CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW BUILDING, A HIGH SCHOOL, TO THE WEST OF THE EARLIER STRUCTURE (IT BECAME THE GRADE SCHOOL), WAS STARTED IN 1905 AND COMPLETED IN 1906. THESE TWO BUILDINGS THEN SERVED DODGEVILLE'S SCHOOL-AGE POPULATION UNTIL 1938, WHEN THIS STRUCTURE WAS BUILT WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A PWA (PUBLIC WORKS ADMINISTRATION) GRANT. AT THE SAME TIME, THE FORMER HIGH SCHOOL WAS REMODELED AND A YEAR LATER THE GRADE SCHOOL (THE 1882 STRUCTURE) WAS DEMOLISHED. A HISTORY OF DODGEVILLE'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM DESCRIBED THE SCHOOL BUILDING AS AN "ARCHITEUCURAL MONSTROSITY," WHICH FORTUNATELY HAD A FINE GYMNASIUM AND MODERN CLASSROOMS. (SEE BIB. REF. B).
IN THE EARLY 1960'S (1964), A NEW HIGH SCHOOL WAS CONSTRUCTED ON THE CITY'S FAR WEST SIDE. IN THE NEXT DECADE A NEW GRADE SCHOOL WAS BUILT NEAR THE HIGH SCHOOL AND THIS STRUCTURE WAS CONVERTED FOR USE AS DODGEVILLE'S MIDDLE SCHOOL. THE ORIGINAL HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING (THE 1906 STRUCTURE) WAS RAZED DURING THIS PERIOD. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. ON BUILDING.
B. DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE, 5 APRIL 1951.
C. HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), PP. 753-54.
D. NATIONAL REGISTER NOMINATION FORM FOR OLD ROCK SCHOOL, HISTORIC PRESERVATION DIVISION, STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. |
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