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Edison Park School

Introduction

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Formerly known as Edison Park School, Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts Elementary School is one of the oldest public elementary schools in southwest Florida. Built in 1927, the school is named after the subdivision it is located in, which itself is named after American inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931), whose historic winter estate is located just to the west. The school is also significant for its Mediterranean Revival architecture and the role it played in the community in the immediate years after its construction. It had the city's largest auditorium (500 seats) and operated as the city's main entertainment venue. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

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Erected in 1927, Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts Elementary School is one of the oldest public elementary schools in southwest Florida.

Plant, Sky, Property, Window

Sky, Plant, Cloud, Window

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Edison Park School was built during the land boom of the 1920s, which was a period of tremendous growth in Fort Myers. Thomas Edison and his wife, Mina, attended the cornerstone laying ceremony on May 13, 1926. When the school opened, it helped ease the overcrowded school system which, until 1927, had consisted of just three schools. Edison Park was designed by local architect L.N. Iredell and it has 17 classrooms, a library, a nurse's office, and the auditorium. In terms of architecture, the building features a stucco exterior, a flat roof with a parapet of red clay tiles, several vertical way bays topped with curved parapets, and highly decorative terra cotta ornamentation surrounding the front entrance and adjacent second-story windows.

Sources

"Edison Park School." The Historical Marker Database. Accessed March 8, 2021. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=101017.

Olaussen, Steve. "Edison Park Elementary School." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. May 5, 1999. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/80978d1e-55d4-456d-9daa-340768b55074.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Both images via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Edison_Park_Elementary_School

Additional Information