McKinley Elementary School

McKinley Elementary School was first built in 1903. Since then, it has undergone a number of different renovations. In 1938, the original building was replaced by a new design. Most of the current school dates from that redesign. A new wing was added in the 1960s and in 1998 six portable classrooms were added to make room for new numbers of students. Facing Olive Avenue is the 1938 L-shaped design, and parallel to Michigan Street is the rectangular addition. 

Originally, the building was a Richardsonian style building designed by local architect Fred T. Perris. When the building was being constructed it was wired with electricity in order for the school to utilize electric fire alarms. As this building was a two-story brick building, it was not very earthquake-safe. After an earthquake in Long Beach in 1933, the Field Act was passed which required that all California schools either be demolished or reinforced. This led to the construction of the 1938 design. A bell from this original design was transferred to the bell-tower of the Assistencia located on Barton Road.

Herbert Powell of Marsh, Smith, and Powell designed the new building. In contrast to the original design, this building was only one story and had only eight classrooms before later additions were made. Powell’s design was considered notable because it was seen as very “child friendly”. For example, the L-shaped design allowed the most space for a large central playground with doors facing towards the interior of the school grounds. Additionally, this layout allowed for future additions to be added along the same lines of the outside of the property without drastically changing the design. 

Another interesting element of this design is that it is an early example of a school built with “open air” hallways. Rather than all classrooms being inside one building and sharing indoor hallways, to walk from one room to another one walks outside. This is possible because of California’s climate, but until that point in time most schools were based on layouts from the east coast which were all indoors to combat cold and snowy winters. Along the outside of the classrooms is a shade because more often than not the problem in Redlands is the opposite-people are trying to escape the heat.

McKinley Elementary School was named in honor of President William McKinley, who visited Redlands in 1901. Due to the expansion of the railroad throughout the U.S., presidents had only been able to visit the western part of the country quite recently before that point. Therefore, politicians could take advantage of this new method of fast transportation to see voters across the country. McKinley may have been inclined to visit Redlands because it was a strong Republican city which voted overwhelmingly for McKinley over William Jennings Bryan both in 1896 and 1900. Additionally, Republican donors such as mining millionaire A.G. Hubbard were citizens of Redlands. As McKinley was assassinated just months after his visit to Redlands, this left quite a shock in the community and inspired people to honor his memory. Just after his assassination, the community decided to honor him by creating a bronze bust of McKinley by sculptor William Couper. A couple of years later, McKinley’s vice president and successor Theodore Roosevelt visited Redlands. Upon having his attention called to the bust, Roosevelt “rose and uncovered his head in respect for his predecessor”.

A.K. Smiley Public Library, Heritage Room, Historic Resources Inventory, Survey Form Scans

"City Schools." The Citrograph (Redlands, CA) January 23rd 1904. .

Moore, Frank E. Redlands: Our Town. Redlands, CA. Moore Historical Foundation, 1987.

"Take a Tour of West Olive Avenue." Redlands Daily Facts (Redlands, CA) May 2nd 2009.

Welcome, McKinley Elementary School. Accessed August 14th 2020. https://www.redlandsusd.net/Page/31.