America Street School, 1904-1996
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Built in 1904 and opened in 1905, this historic ten-room schoolhouse served the city until 1955. Prior to the time of its construction, some of the children in this neighborhood attended classes in a nearby fire station, or in rented rooms throughout the area. The school was one of five two-story brick schools built in the city near the turn of the century, but was unique in the fact that it was not enlarged or modified. As a result, the Providence Preservation Society hoped to preserve the structure, which had suffered from years of neglect. The building had been used as a meeting place for the Veterans of Foreign Wars over the past sixty years, but without the financial backing of a prospective tenant or owner who might finance the needed repairs, the building was demolished in 1996
Images
The school was placed on the Providence Preservation Society's Ten Most Endangered Properties List in 1995, but efforts to preserve the building failed.
The school was completed at a cost of $57,000. This photo shows children next to the school, and the Africa Street school(built in 1881) in the distance.
Sources
Providence Preservation Society, National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, http://www.preservation.ri.gov/pdfs_zips_downloads/national_pdfs/providence/prov_america-street-22_america-street-school.pdf accessed 3/27/16
Photographs from the Providence City website, https://www.providenceri.com/photogallery/set/72157629689854625