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1999

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Most Endangered Places for 1999

Historic D.C. Public Schools

Nathaniel P. Gage School, c. 1904 2035 Second St. NW

Schools are crucial social spaces where we often experience our earliest and strongest emotional attachments to place. Washington's historic schools represent a wide variety of architectural styles built between the 1870s and the 1950s. While a number of these structures exist as functioning schools, many are in dire need of repair. Equally urgent, however, are the more than 50 historic schools currently on the D.C. Public Schools Surplus Property List. The League has listed historic schools on its endangered list since 1996 and has been working since that time with community organizations to save these structures. However, much work remains to be done including working with city officials to ensure that the sale of these properties does not lead to insensitive alterations or demolition. Examples of historic schools that are threatened include the Stevens School (1868) at 1050 21st Street, NW, one of the city's oldest surviving elementary schools for African American students; the Webster School (1882) at 740 H Street, NW, originally an elementary school and later home to the Americanization School, a vital center for the city's immigrant communities; and the McKinley School (1928) at 151 T Street, NE, an enormous complex gracing the T Street Hill that was on the cutting-edge of technical arts high schools.

Cochairs: Mark Fetterman and Tanya Beauchamp

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