Franklin School (Boise, Idaho)
{{short description|Historic building in Boise, Idaho}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Franklin School
| nrhp_type =
| image = Franklin School and Franklin High School.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| caption = School (left, 1905) and High School (right, 1926), from northwest in 1947
| location= 5007 Franklin Road
Boise, Idaho, U.S.
| coordinates = {{coord|43|36|09|N|116|14|38|W|region:US_type:landmark|name=Franklin School|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = USA#Idaho
| map_label = Boise
| map_caption = Location in the United States##Location in Idaho
| built = {{Start date and age|1926}}
| demolished = {{Start date and age|2009}}{{cite news |title=Cole, Franklin demolition may start soon - Some Boiseans have mixed feelings about the destruction of Cole, which was built in 1888 |author=Bethann Stewart |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=August 12, 2009}}
| architect = Tourtellotte & Co., Tourtellotte & Hummel
| added = November 8, 1982
| area = {{convert|8.3|acre}}
| mpsub = [http://pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NRHP/Text/64000159.pdf Boise Public Schools TR]
| refnum = 82000200{{NRISref|version=2013a}}
}}
Franklin School was a two-story brick and stucco building in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. Designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in 1926, the school featured a flat roof with a decorated concrete parapet. Added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1982,{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=82000200}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Franklin School |publisher=National Park Service|author= |date= |accessdate=April 13, 2019}} With {{NRHP url|id=82000200|photos=y|title=accompanying pictures}} it was demolished in 2009.{{cite web |title=Old Bench school site was going to be a gas station. Now, a very different plan is forming |author=Don Day |publisher=BoiseDev |location=Boise, Idaho |date=March 22, 2019 |url=https://boisedev.com/news/2019/03/22/old-bench-school-site-was-going-to-be-a-gas-station-now-a-very-different-plan-is-forming/ |accessdate=April 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413142211/https://boisedev.com/news/2019/03/22/old-bench-school-site-was-going-to-be-a-gas-station-now-a-very-different-plan-is-forming/ |archive-date=April 13, 2019}}
History
In 1876, William B. Morris established an irrigation canal from the Boise River to his property, the Morris Ranch, in an area that became Boise's Central Bench. His nephew, William H. Ridenbaugh, completed the project in 1878, and the ditch became known as the Ridenbaugh Canal. Settlers established farms in the area of the Morris Ranch, later named the Ridenbaugh Ranch, after completion of the canal. In the 1880s, Benjamin Scott purchased the Ridenbaugh Ranch, and he donated land for construction of a one-room school at the corner of Franklin and Orchard Roads.{{cite web |title=Central Bench History |author=Jim Duran |publisher=Boise Arts and History |date=2016 |url=https://www.boiseartsandhistory.org/media/3410/central_bench_history_entirebook_oct2016_lowres.pdf |accessdate=April 13, 2019}} Scott School was part of the community of Franklin, about {{convert|3|mi|0|spell=in}} west of downtown Boise City,The Franklin community should not be confused with the town of Franklin, founded in 1860 in southeastern Idaho. See {{cite book |title=Idaho Place Names |author=Lalia Boone |publisher=University of Idaho Press |date=1988 |page=143}} and it was the only school in District #45, the Scott School District. The schoolhouse was enlarged to two rooms in 1901;{{cite news |title=School House Improvements |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=August 7, 1901 |page=8}} by 1903, the district had 132 students, and it was ready for a larger school building.{{cite news |title=School District Bill |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=February 10, 1903 |page=3}}
In 1905, a new school was designed for the site by Tourtellotte & Co., a two-story, five-room building with sandstone facade,{{cite news |title=Real Estate and Building |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=June 11, 1905 |page=5}}{{cite news |title=Schoolhouse on the Bench |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=June 21, 1905 |page=6}} and it was known as Franklin School by 1906.{{cite news |title=New Bell for Franklyn (sic) School |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=January 30, 1906 |page=3}} District #45 was renamed the Franklin School District.{{cite news |title=Trustees of Franklin District |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=December 24, 1911 |page=6}}
In 1926, Tourtellotte & Hummel designed an eight-room high school at the site, west of Franklin School.{{cite news |title=Franklin Passes New School Bonds |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=April 4, 1926 |page=8}}{{cite news |title=Notice to Contractors |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=May 14, 1926 |page=14}} The 1926 building, Franklin High School, was constructed by contractor L.S. Mallory,{{cite news |title=Let Contract |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=June 4, 1926 |page=7}}{{cite news |title=Franklin School Completed (photo) |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=October 7, 1926 |page=5}} and it was added to the NRHP in 1982.
A gymnasium designed by Wayland & Fennell was added to Franklin High School in 1936,{{cite news |title=Advertisement for Bids |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=September 4, 1936 |page=8}} and additional classrooms were added later.
By a vote of 214 to 2, Franklin voters approved annexation of District #45 into the Boise Independent School District in 1947.{{cite news |title=Legal Notice |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=March 19, 1947 |page=11}} High school students from Franklin were sent to Boise High School beginning in 1948, and the name of Franklin High School was changed briefly to Fairmont Elementary School.{{cite news |title=School Board Votes to Close Fairmont High |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=February 18, 1948 |page=2}} By 1952, the name had changed to Franklin Elementary School.{{cite news |title=To Earn the Title (photo) |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=November 11, 1952 |page=8}} It closed in 2008,{{cite news |title=Former students, faculty recall time at Franklin school - Current students will find desks elsewhere as the century-old school closes |author=Anne Wallace Allen |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=April 7, 2008}} and the building was demolished in 2009.
Boise City Parks and Recreation purchased a portion of the property in 2013, and the corner parcel that was the site of Franklin School was purchased by Maverik, a gasoline and convenience market company.{{cite news |title=Strange future neighbors: Boise Bench's Franklin Park, Maverik store |author=Sven Berg |newspaper=Idaho Statesman |location=Boise, Idaho |date=January 28, 2016}} Community activists opposed Maverik's plan to build an outlet at the site, and Maverik announced in January 2019 that it would sell the site.
{{clear}}
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{commons category-inline|Franklin School, Boise}}
- [https://parks.cityofboise.org/parks-and-facilities/parks/franklin-park/ Franklin Park], Boise Parks and Recreation
- [https://idahoarchitectureproject.org/s/130/Franklin-Elementary Franklin Elementary]{{Dead link|date=November 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, Idaho Architecture Project
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Boise, Idaho
Category:Defunct schools in Idaho
Category:School buildings completed in 1926
Category:Tourtellotte & Hummel buildings
Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 2009