Berry Hollow School was constructed on the outskirts of Springfield, Arkansas in 1938 as a WPA project. Construction for this school was funded by the United States government as part of the Works Project Administration. (Ref: http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=26992)
Berry Hollow School was one of the many WPA projects in the state ofArkansas. Not too many people are aware of this, but many buildings in Arkansas were built and constructed by WPA. Berry Hollow School is an example of WPA era construction. A WPA cornerstone can be found on the right side of the building with the year listed at the bottom. (Ref: http://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=256196)
The school was built as a one-room schoolhouse using rock and stone. Rock walls served as the interiors and exteriors. These rocks were excavated from a stone quarry. A stone bench was built on outside near the front door. You will see stone construction on buildings such as this one throughout Arkansas. Stone construction is not uncommon in the state of Arkansas.
The interior has wainscoting and a chalkboard intact. The wainscoting is most notable interior feature inside of this building. Wainscoting inside has integrity of such. Much woodwork was used for this building. The floors were wooden floors instead of the typical tarmac or stucco flooring used in many WPA buildings.
Berry Hollow School operated as an elementary school throughout the 1940s. Judging by the size of this school, Berry Hollow School was a 1-6 school which educated students in grades 1 through 6 instead of your standard 1-8 school where students in grades 1 through 8 were taught. Berry Hollow School was too small to have been a 1-8 school given that the building was specifically designed to serve as a one-room schoolhouse. The year when Berry Hollow School was closed is still unknown.
Today all windows are missing and none remain. The floor is gone too.
Berry Hollow WPA School is located on 765 Co Hwy 777, Springfield, Arkansas, US.
No comments:
Post a Comment