Washington Elementary

The history of one of Boise’s North end buildings is not well documented, though it is historically significant given it has been a school children in the area have attended for over a century. Established in 1900, the original Washington Elementary building was a two story school house, with arches in the entrance and rose windows. A notable part of it’s structure was the single Copenhagen tower in the middle of the building’s roof. Because of the rapid population growth in the North End four additional rooms to accommodate the increase of students enrolled were built in 1902, and in 1908 the east half of the 16th street block was purchased for future expansion. Unfortunately this building was destroyed by a fire on June 3rd in 1917, and a new more basic building was created the same year.
Designed by students who then attened Boise High school, it was built on a “unit plan” which was intended to allow future additions to the structure made easily and cheaply, hence it’s basic design. Each entrance on either end of the school is decorated with symmetrical arches, as well as some windows with arched frames. Along the roofline are wide double bracketed eaves placed beneath the, “low, hipped roof”, which has two towers, one on either end, and a single chimney in the middle towards the back of the building. It’s original blueprints included eight rooms, but four more were later added on, accompanied by an auditorium and stage in the South end in 1947. There have not been any more major alterations to the building since.