Barton Academy
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| Barton Academy | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | 504 Government Street Mobile, Alabama |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1836[1] |
| Architect: | James Gallier, James H. Dakin and Charles B. Dakin[1] |
| Architectural style(s): | Greek Revival |
| Added to NRHP: | 16 February 1970[1][2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 70000107[2] |
| Governing body: | Private |
Barton Academy is a historic Greek Revival school building located in Mobile, Alabama, United States. It was under construction from 1835 to 1836 and was designed by architects James Gallier, James H. Dakin and Charles B. Dakin of New Orleans. Gallier and the Dakin brothers also designed the nearby Government Street Presbyterian Church.[3] Barton Academy was the first public school in the state of Alabama.[4]
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[edit] History
The building was named for Willoughby Barton, an Alabama state legislator from Mobile who introduced an act that created the Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County on 10 January 1826.[5] This was the first education board in Alabama.[1] The board bought all of the property in the block between Government, Cedar, Conti, and Lawrence Streets for $2750 in 1830. Construction began in 1835, but funding stalled progress until an act was passed in early 1836 that allowed the commissioners to raise funds through a lottery. The building was dedicated later that year. The commission then allowed the building to be used for private and denominational schools, with some funding appropriated to them by the commissioners. An act in 1846 allowed for taxes to be collected for the establishment of a free Methodist school by the commission. The commission was behind another act on 9 February 1852 that would have allowed the commission to sell the building, which was now in need of maintenance and repairs, and distribute the proceeds among the existing schools, if approved by the voters. The electorate rejected this and subsequently elected a new board of commissioners.[5]
After the election of the new board, the building was repaired and the system was reorganized. The building reopened as a public school in November of 1852. The school was closed for the duration of the American Civil War. The Girls High School reopened in 1865, followed by the Boys High School in 1870. Both would continue at Barton until the opening of Murphy High School in 1926. The building was surveyed by the Historic American Buildings Survey several times from 1934 to 1937.[5] It continued to serve as a school building until the 1960s when it was converted into the Central Office for the Mobile County Public School System.[4] The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 16 February 1970.[1] The Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation named Barton Academy as one of their "Places in Peril" in 2005, citing the school board's planned relocation of its administrative center and the general neglect that the structure had already suffered.[6] The school board has since relocated its offices and has been working with preservation agencies at the local, state, and national level in an effort to have the building restored.[7]
[edit] Description
Barton Academy is three floors in height and is primarily constructed of brick which has been stuccoed and scored to look like stone. The building features a two-story hexastyle pedimented Ionic portico with wrought-iron balustrades in the central block and two-story pilasters that articulate the remaining bays above the ground level. The low-pitched hipped roof is topped by central domed cupola that is ringed by 28 Ionic columns. The dome itself is topped by a lantern patterned after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.[3] Narrow side wings were added to the main block of the building in the late 19th century, with an additional large rear wing added in 1914.[1]
[edit] Gallery
 Engraving of Barton Academy from John LaTourrette's 1838 Map of the City of Mobile. |
 Architectural drawing of the main, original block done by the HABS. |
 HABS photo taken in 1934 of front and east elevations. |
 Detail of the front portico. |
 Detail of the cupola and dome. |
 Wrought and cast-iron gates at the entrance on Government Street. |
 Front and west elevations in 2008. |
 Detail of the cupola and dome in 2008, showing the loss of architectural details on the dome's lantern. |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b "Alabama: Mobile County ". "Nationalhistoricalregister.com". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b Gamble, Robert Historic architecture in Alabama: a guide to styles and types, 1810-1930, page 57. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1990. ISBN 0817311343.
- ^ a b "About Us:MCPSS Central Office". "Mobile County Public schools". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ a b c "Barton Academy, Government Street, Mobile, Mobile County, AL data pages". "Historic American Buildings Survey". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ Gregory, Melanie Betz (Fall 2005). "Places in Peril: Alabama's Endangered Historic Landmarks for 2005". "Alabama Heritage,". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
- ^ "YOU can participate in the Barton restoration project". "Historic Mobile Preservation Society". Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
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