Property Record
124 2nd ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Baraboo High School |
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| Other Name: | Baraboo Civic Center |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 87577 |
| Location (Address): | 124 2nd ST |
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| County: | Sauk |
| City: | Baraboo |
| Township/Village: | |
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| Year Built: | 1928 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19772014 |
| Historic Use: | school – elem/middle/jr high/high |
| Architectural Style: | Prairie School |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Claude and Starck |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Downtown Baraboo Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/8/2015 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/15/2014 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | In 1929, a new Baraboo High School, located at 124 2nd Street, was opened to replace the inadequate and small existing high school building and condemned junior high school building. Upon the new school’s completion, the old high school building, occupying the western half of the same city block, was converted into the junior high school. The two buildings, whose official address was 311 Ash Street, faced back to back and shared the same central heating system and occupied the entirety of the block. The Baraboo High School, completed in 1928 for the sum of $225,000 and designed by the Madison architects Claude and Starck, is primarily buff brick and stone and features a dramatic row of pilasters and terra cotta entrance decorations and naturalistic motifs. The overall style is difficult to categorize, but generally aligns with turn of the century progressive architecture with additional classical symmetry. The interior of the four story high school building has a spacious gymnasium, dressing rooms, an auditorium and stage, classrooms, extensive laboratories, and a roof playground. In 1938, a subway was constructed linking the two school buildings on the shared block. The extant covered passageway was intended to shield students from inclimate weather. In 1960, the Baraboo City Council held a referendum on a new high school site on the edge of the City and the school moved. The older junior high school building was demolished and in 1979 the old high school building was converted into the Baraboo Civic Center. A war memorial, sponsored by the VFW, lists a roll call of Baraboo service men and women who participated in a number of wars during the twentieth century, is located outside of the Civic Center at 124 2nd Street. |
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| Bibliographic References: | City of Baraboo Directory records on file with the Sauk County Historical Society. Board of Education, Baraboo. Annual Report and Course of Study of the Public Schools of Baraboo, Wisconsin. Baraboo, WI: J.S. Briscoe, 1901. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1885, 1892, 1898, 1904, 1913, and 1927. On file at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Sauk County Aerial Photography, 1937. On file with the Sauk County Historical Society. Sauk County Historical Society Website. <www.saukcountyhistory.org>, accessed March 27, 2014. Ward, Joseph Wayne. Baraboo, 1850-2010, Vol. V: Chronology of the Growth of the Commercial & Retail Districts. Self-published, 2013. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |