Must-See RVA! — Springfield School

AKA, Bowler School, Bellevue Elementary School
608 North Twenty-sixth Street
Built, 1913
Architects, Charles M. Robinson (supervising), Carneal & Johnston
VDHR 127-0832

I’d like a large Gothic Revival building with a crenelated parapet please, and an extra side order of granite.

December 2016

As early as 1869 a two-room school was operating on this site in a building known as Springfield Hall. By 1871 the building was referred to as Springfield School. In 1880 a new brick school, also named Springfield, was constructed on the site. Seven years later a second story was added. In 1913 the school was demolished and the present building constructed in its place. In 1948, the Springfield School was renamed for J. Andrew Bowler, a highly respected civic leader and teacher, when it became the first former white school on Church Hill to receive black students.

(Charles M. Robinson Story)

The Springfield School is associated with an important period in the history of public education in Richmond. Between 1870, when the Board of Public Instruction launched its initial acquisition and development program, and 1909, capital outlay for school construction was modest. In 1909, Dr. J.A.C. Chandler was named Superintendent of Richmond Public Schools. Dr. Chandler soon initiated an ambitious construction program which was overseen by Public School Architect Charles M. Robinson. Over the next twenty years most of the extant historic school buildings in Richmond were constructed. The Springfield School is one of the best examples of the schools constructed during this period. The Depression of the 1930s and World War II effectively ended this phase of school construction in Richmond. Not until after the war were schools constructed on a scale comparable to the 1909-1929 period.

(VDHR) — 1992 nomination photo

The Springfield School was designed by Carneal and Johnston, Architects and Engineers, of Richmond, a locally significant architectural firm. William Leigh Carneal, a native of Richmond, designed numerous buildings in the city. In addition to the Springfield School, he designed the Nathaniel Bacon School and the Virginia State Library on Capitol Square. He was also associated with the design of several buildings at Virginia Military Institute, Lexington and Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg.

December 2016

The Springfield School was constructed of locally quarried stone by the Wise Granite Company of Richmond. It is a relatively rare example of the use of granite within the city of Richmond, where brick has been the most common masonry material. It is one of only two extant public schools in Richmond extensively faced with granite. The use of granite was particularity appropriate to the Springfield School because of its Gothic styling. The granite lends greater authenticity to the Gothic styling whose origins date to the medieval period and are closely associated with the architecture of churches and fortifications.

December 2016

Another aspect of the architectural significance of the Springfield School is its Gothic Revival styling. During the 1830s the Gothic Revival style was championed in the works of Alexander Jackson Davis, the country’s most prolific practitioner of the style. Davis’s plans for houses and cottages were widely distributed in the popular books of Andrew Jackson Downing. Downing produced several pattern books which illustrated the suitability of the style to modest domestic architecture.

(Library of Virginia) — Carneal & Johnston Negative Collection

Downing’s publications made the Gothic one of the predominant building styles of the period. The Gothic Revival style was most popular in the United States between 1840 and 1870, although it remained a popular building style for religious and educational buildings well into the 20th century. The Gothic Revival was particularly important in Virginia, where Alexander Jackson Davis designed a number of buildings, including the “Barracks” at Virginia Military Institute. The Springfield School is a high-style example of the adaptation of the Gothic style to educational architecture.

December 2016

Beyond its Gothic styling, the Springfield School shares certain traits common to hundreds of other schools throughout the country. While historic school buildings varied greatly in terms of their size, style, and materials, their designs did adhere to certain standards. The earliest published standards for school buildings date to 1832 when William A. Alcott prepared a brief treatise on school design. Alcott stressed that fresh air, space, and light were necessary in promoting a healthy learning environment. He suggested the liberal use of large windows, classrooms providing a separate desk for each pupil, and open surroundings for recreation.

(Library of Virginia) — Carneal & Johnston Negative Collection

For more than a century afterwards, school architects followed similar standards. These schools featured a basic classroom size of about 25 by 35 feet, expansive windows, high ceilings, and an open setting usually with adjacent playgrounds and athletic fields. These characteristics were shared by schools ranging from one-room rural types to large urban schools. The Springfield School shares many of these traits and is a good example of the adaptation of the Gothic style to traditional school design. (VDHR)

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