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Lincoln School
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Rock Island Landmark
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| Location: | 7th Ave. and 22nd St., Rock Island, Illinois |
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| Built: | 1893 |
| Architect: | E.S. Hammatt |
| Architectural style: | Romanesque |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 85001910[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP: | August 29, 1985 |
| Designated RIL: | 1984[2] |
Lincoln School is an historic building located in Rock Island, Illinois, United States. It was designated a Rock Island Landmark in 1984, individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, and became part of the Broadway Historic District when it was listed on the national register in 1998. It is the oldest school building and the only Romanesque Revival building in Rock Island.[3]
The school building, which originally housed Public School #4, was completed in July 1894.[3] It was designed by Davenport architect E.S Hammatt, who had designed four other school buildings in Rock Island, although only Lincoln School remains. He also designed school buildings for the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa in Davenport. Kemper Hall, which still stands on the Davenport Central High School campus and multiple additions to St. Katherine’s Hall were also his work.[4] He was also the architect for the Connor House in Rock Island.[5] Lincoln School was constructed by John Volk and Company.
Mary Platt, who taught ninth grade, was named the school’s first principal. Shorty after that ninth grade was moved to Rock Island High School. Seventh and eighth grades remained at Lincoln until 1937. The school operated as an elementary school until 1980. It was scheduled for demolition in 1984 when it was given its landmark status. A neighbor who was interested in saving the building bought the old school. It remains vacant and was named on 2005’s Ten most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois by the preservation advocacy group Landmarks Illinois.
By order of the City Council, the building is slated to be torn down on July 1st, 2012 unless an organization can save it before then. The City voted to place a tarp over the leaking roof to allow for some of the building to be salvaged, but this was never completed.
The building is designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The exterior, which is composed of red brick and Anamosa Limestone and Bedford limestone, features simple and bold massing. A flared and rusticated limestone base reinforces the visual weightiness of the building. A bell tower was constructed in brick on the front of the building and was removed in the 1940s.[3] It featured stone quoining. A recessed entry is located below an archway that features wrought-iron scrollwork.
The exterior of the school is simple and bold in massing. The hipped roof rises 41 feet (12.5 m) at the ridgeline and includes cross gables on three sides of the building.[3] A flared and rusticated limestone base reinforces the visual weightiness of the building. The building is fronted with a brick bell tower with stone quoining. The tower was removed in the 1940s.[3] Wrought-iron scrollwork spans the archway, which leads to a recessed entry with two sets of double doors.
The building’s interior was noteworthy for its expansive hallways, which also housed the school’s library.[3] It also featured a grand staircase between floors.
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