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Property Location
Property Features
This school building is a one-story red brick structure with a raised basement. With L form, this building has an intersecting low-pitched hip roof wide, flaring eaves. Windows are multiple-pane double-hung sashes. The entrance consists of a panel door decorated with sidelights and topped with a very large fanlight. The entrance is recessed and further decorated with with a brick surround and stone keystone. A brick belt course with stone tabs separates the first and the basement levels. Above the entrance is a stone plaque surrounded by a brick frame with stone tabs. The stone inscription reads, "Bigelow School." There is also a shed on the property.
ARCHITECTURAL/ENGINEERING SIGNIFICANCE
This building is a good and intact example of early twentieth century school building that features details from both the Prairie and Neo-classical Revival styles. This building is one of several intact late nineteenth and early twentieth century small schools in Mequon. Most have a good level of integerity and they all represebt high quality school construction in the last era of small schools used in the twentieth century. Because of its fine architectural details and high level of preservation, this building is significant for architecture in Mequon.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The Bigelow School was built in 1929 and was one of the last small schools built in Mequon in the twentieth century. This and other small schools were phased out in the 1960s during the era of school consolidation.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
This building represents one phase of the development of education in Mequon. Like most rural areas, Mequon had a number of small school "districts" that served the education need of rural children. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, new, "modern", schools were constructed to provide additional space and better achool facilities for the students. The Bigelow School was typical of the school type built during this era in Mequon. These building were not only improved facilites but were more architecturally elaborate than buildings constructed in other rural districts. Because this building represents an important part of the development of school facilities in Mequon, it is significant for history.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
The Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory (AHI) is a digital source of information on historic buildings, structures, and objects that have been surveyed by the State Historic Preservation Office in Wisconsin. Each property has a digital record providing basic information about the property and images.
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