african american schools

Lincoln School, located at 201 Wells Avenue in Marceline, Linn County, Missouri, is a rectangular one-story, stuccoed, side gabled building with a basement. It has ceramic/hollow clay tile walls, red brick quoining and red brink framing all first floor historic and non-historic windows and doors. The building is painted white (non-historic). Two feet of the basement extends from the ground; that is rock face concrete painted gray. The gables are non-historic gray metal clapboard. Five brackets line both the north and south gables.

The schoolhouse shares its lot with multiple non-contributing resources which include three sheds (one used as a quail coop, another as a chicken coop and the other as a greenhouse), and a small carport, with one contributing object flagpole). The elevations of the schoolhouse are divided in two sections by a change in material that occurs at the line between the first floor and basement areas. At the south elevation, an historic door at the bottom of non-historic stairs leads to the basement.

Its interior maintains its historical layout. The first floor is a large, one-room area with historic plaster and windows, with a non-historic floor covering the historic subfloor. Some plaster has been removed; all of it has been painted white. The ceramic blocks used in the construction of the resource can be seen where the plaster has fallen off or been removed. The frame for the blackboard remains on the west wall, as does the library area that protrudes from the internal west wall by approximately five feet. The historic chimney/flue remains at the north wall of the first floor. The windows are historic and appear to maintain the look and feel they have had since the school was constructed and opened in 1933. The upper pane of the east windows were that way during the 1930s,[1] so it is reasonable to think they were always like that.

Stairs lead down to the basement. The basement takes up the same dimensions as the first floor. Here, more historic windows are apparent, though some are missing the glass. The remnants of the bathroom pipes can be seen in the southeast corner of the basement. Three floor jacks line the basement from north to south supporting the floor. The historic subfloor can be seen from the basement. The historic chimney is located at the north wall of the basement and the historic coal chute occupies the northwest corner of this wall, too.

While there have been alterations, in the case of the Lincoln School, “the overall sense of past time and place is evident.”[2] Given its, historic function and significance during the period of significance between 1933 and 1954 the Lincoln School is locally significant under Criterion A: ETHNIC HERITAGE – BLACK and EDUCATION and eligible for the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

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ELABORATION

Setting

The Lincoln School is a one-room schoolhouse that covers approximately one-fourth of the .643-acre lot of which it is a part.[4] The school is located one-half of a mile south-southwest of Marceline’s downtown commercial district. It is in a rural (non-downtown area) neighborhood in the southwest region of Marceline; a city park is to the south[5], a gravel parking lot to the east, an alley to the north and the owner’s house is to the west. The neighborhood is a mix of late-19^th and early-20^th century homes as well as newer homes and vacant lots.

It is but within the Marceline city limits. It sits directly north of the baseball diamonds in Walt Disney Municipal Park, which is across W. Wells St. to the south. The school is due east of the house that is on the same current property (the historical property border does not include the lots on which the non-historic residential house sits). To the north is an alley and to the east, across the street, is a gravel parking lot.

Tanjua Waddle, Recorder of Deeds for Linn County, stated the school originally sat on Lots 17, 18, 19, and 20 which were sold as a single parcel in 1900 and stayed a single parcel until 1973. When John and Marjorie Leopold purchased the lots in 1973 Lots 17-20 were combined with Lots 21, 22, 23, and 24. The original parcel (Lots 17-20) was purchased on 5/21/1932 by the Marceline School District and owned until 1955 when the school district sold it.[6]

The original lot sizes were 25×140. Lot 17 runs along Chestnut St. on the east line of property. The old school building sits on lot 18. Lots 19 and 20 are in between. Thus, the original site would have extended 100 feet east to west along W. Wells Street, 140 feet along Chestnut, 100 feet along an alley separating W. Wells from W. Curtis Street. The western boundary would have cut through the middle of the current lot (Figures 2 and 3).[7] All references to lots from here refer to the historic property designated as Lots 17-20.

A sidewalk, located along the east boundary of the property, was added after the period of significance. It is not within the boundary and marks the east boundary of the property. The lot is level.

The schoolhouse shares the non-historic lot with a non-historic house (not included in the historic boundary) that is the residence of the school’s owner. A quail pen, a duck and chicken pen, and a storage shed located north-northwest of the school building share the historic lot with the school; a carport is located next to the north wall, but not attached to the resource. An historic flagpole (contributing object) is in the southeast corner of the property. The dates for these changes are found in the “Alterations” section below.

Landscaping is minimal. Two mature trees obscure the main east elevation façade when viewed facing west but are not within the boundary. Otherwise, the historic lot is free of other obstructive vegetation.

The original historic school flagpole made from a railroad semaphore pole is near the southeast corner of the property.[8] A piece of concrete with the remnants of a pole are in the ground about 10 feet east-northeast of the northeast corner of the school.[9]

Architectural Description

Exterior of Lincoln School

The schoolhouse is a rectangular one-room ceramic/hollow clay block building. It has a side gabled roof, open eaves, and a painted stucco exterior. The door and windows are framed by standard red bricks. Brick quoining is on each corner. A red brick, single flue, chimney with non-historic cap, exits the roof at the north side of the building at the roof peak. The gables are covered with non-historic metal clapboard.[10] Five historic wood brackets line the underside of the overhangs on the south and north sides of the building.

The first-floor exterior is relatively smooth stucco painted white (which continues every elevation) with brick quoining at its north and south corners. The eaves are open. An area of rockface concrete block painted gray demarks the location of the basement.

The hollow clay block first floor rests on top of a basement built with rock face concrete blocks above grade and poured cement foundation below grade. The external measurements are 25 feet by 38 feet.

East (Primary) Façade

The first floor consists of three bays and a historic concrete stair with six steps and landing and an historic handrail.

From south to north, its first bay holds a non-historic, metal, single-leaf door and transom. The window in this transom was removed at an unknown date and has been boarded up from the back at least since 2016.[11] The door and transom are surrounded by red brick. At the base of the door the red brick is a rowlock of 21 bricks. The bottom rowlock extends four bricks beyond the bottom of the door on each side. Stacked on those two sets of three bricks are three headers on both sides of the door. Above the three stacked header bricks is a stacked course of 36 bricks leading to the top of the transom. The transom is topped with three rows of running bond extending half a brick length beyond the stacked header courses.

“Lincoln School” is painted in black above the running bonds above the transom. The owner says when he purchased the property, the sign had been painted over and he repainted it.

Bays two and three are nearly identical. Bay two contains a mulled pair of nine light windows. The upper portion of the window frame area has been boarded over on the windows. When this happened is unknown; further research may uncover when and why they were boarded over.[12]

These windows are framed by red brick that follows a similar pattern as the brick framing seen around the front entryway. The sill area is made up of a rowlock of 34 bricks, three of which extend beyond the window frame. Over those three bricks are three stretchers. On top of those is a stacked bond consisting of 22 bricks. The lintel area is comprised of three rows of running bond (Photos 1 and 5). The upper sashes of the first-floor windows on this elevation –as well as on the north elevation—are believed to be sandwiched between additional solid sashes; however, this could not be confirmed due to how the additional solid sashes were installed.

At the basement level are a pair boarded up windows. The sills are stone. As with the other windows, when this was done is unknown.

Bay Three shows the same window layout, including the red brick framing and boarded over basement windows.

South Elevation (Secondary Façade)

The gable has five historic wooden triangular knee brackets and non-historic clapboards (installed in 2018; See Figure 8 for what gables looked like when the property was purchased by the current owner) . These were likely historically finished with wood clapboards; these are currently metal.[13] Three square windows openings are equally spaced across the upper half of the first-floor wall . Each opening features a wooden frame and sash of a single pane with nine lights. Each window opening in framed by red brick trim that follows a similar pattern as the previously describe trim around the windows and door of the east elevation. (This pattern was the same when the property was purchased). The pattern for this frame is 20 rowlock bricks forming the sill with three extending beyond the window frame topped with three stretcher bricks atop of which are 11 bricks in a stacked bond and topped with three rows of running bond to make the lintel. At the basement level, there are three bays, each positioned directly below the windows of the first floor.  The east and west bays feature a single window opening, boarded up and painted gray.

A stairwell, made of concrete blocks and a flight of concrete stairs, descends to the basement level alongside the elevation, beginning in front of the west bay and terminating at the center bay with a historic wood entry door to the left. These stairs are mostly historic. Some work to repair eroding steps was done, but as much of the historic material as possible was used in those repairs. There appears to be a drainage system integrated into the stairs.[14]

 

North Elevation

Like the south elevation gable area, this wall also has five historic triangular knee brackets with and non-historic clapboards (Figures, 4, 6 and 15; Photos 3 and 11). The same type of quoining as described above is seen at both corners of the wall.

This elevation has only two bays, each containing a single pane window with nine lights surrounded by the same brick pattern described in the discussion of the east elevation. The lower central light of the east opening has been replaced with a piece of plywood. The pattern for these frames is 19 rowlock bricks forming the sill with three (3) of these bricks extending beyond the window frame topped with three stretcher bricks atop of which are 22 bricks in a stacked bond and topped with three rows of running bond to form the lintel. Boarded over window centered in the basement wall are consistent with what is seen on the east elevation.

The historical coal chute occupies the lower right (northwest) corner (Photo 3). A modern utility gauge and wiring are affixed to the center of the wall. The wiring pole extends down from the gable to a covered opening where an historic window was located (Photo 3). A brick chimney with a non-historic flue pipe and cap extends from the roof ridge above this elevation.

Non-contributing sheds and a shelter occupy the green space north of this elevation.

West Elevation

This elevation has stucco wall painted white no windows on the first floor and only a single pair of boarded over windows nearly centered in the basement wall (Photos 3 and 7). Quoining is seen at the corners (Photos 3 and 7). The eaves are open. Figure 13 can be used for comparison.

Interior of the Lincoln School

This space is entered into through the non-historic metal door on the east façade.

First Floor

The layout is of one large room  with few embellishments. The walls are plaster but portions of it have fallen off in some areas, exposing the red hollow clay blocks of the building. Its interior measurements are 23’ 4” by 36’ 7”.

 

Along the east wall there are some small areas of exposed sections of the red hollow clay blocks. The windows are bordered by historic wood trim. All windows are framed in a similar way. None of the windows open and, as seen from the exterior, the top sashes are boarded over. No window appears above the lower window sash.

The ceiling is non-historic tin sheeting . Trim around the ceiling is non-historic. The beams, trusses, and some plaster and lathe remain under the tin sheeting which was applied to preserve the ceiling and prevent anything from falling and hurting someone. The five fluorescent light units and two ceiling fans that hang from the ceiling are non-historic.

The chimney bisects the north wall. It is covered with plaster, though the red bricks are exposed near the top half of it where the stucco has fallen off. An infill of circular hole for an old stove or heater flue pipe is approximately three-fourths of the way up the chimney.

A stairwell to the basement begins at the southwest corner of the first floor and descends northward into the basement. It is enclosed by an internal plastered frame wall along the east side of the stairwell and an internal plastered frame wall at the north side.  The north wall features a built-in bookcase that served as the school’s library.

The flooring is now particle board. It was placed down to ensure the still existing historic subfloor would not be damaged by the equipment the owner uses in the current building.

The blackboard, which was on the west wall north of the library room has been removed, but it remains on site in storage (Photo 18). The wood frame of the blackboard still exists on the west wall; it measures 12 ft. x 4 ft.

A single section of historic pine located on the landing of the interior stairwell. The wall around this interior stairwell is original on the west wall; dry wall has been placed on the schoolroom (east) side of it.

Basement

The basement can be accessed from the exterior through an historic door or through an original interior stairwell from the first-floor classroom area.

The basement is one large room constructed of concrete blocks and concrete. All but two of the historic basement window sashes remain intact; four of these have been infilled. These windows consist of three rectangular lights. The historic wood door is made up of six-panels and leads to the external stairs at the south elevation wall remains. The external portion of the door appears to be unaltered. A chimney is centered in the north elevation wall behind a non-historic furnace system. The historic coal chute is evident on the west side of the north wall. It is covered by plywood on the exterior, but the metal door remains when viewed from the interior. Stamped on the door are “Majestic Breakproof Coal Window,” “1926 Style,” “M-203,” and “The Majestic Company. Huntington, IND.” . Majestic was in business in the 1930s according to their website, which means this door is historic. The style indicates that it was first made in the 1926.[15] Three metal support posts are in the center of the basement to the north and south. When these were installed is unknown; further research is required. A wood support post is located near the northeast corner of the basement.

Modern utility equipment hangs on the north wall.

While it is now used for storage, the basement was where the students ate at a portable long portable table, had their bathroom (the original plumbing still exists in the southeast corner of the basement), and placed their clothing during school.[16] The basement also had running water. All plumbing was capped due to backflow and flooding. The historic main water line is galvanized located on the east wall. The historical main waste line is stubbed out of the basement floor where there was once a bathroom. This waste line is collapsed.

INTEGRITY

The historical integrity of the school is largely intact with the general layout of the property—both the interior and exterior—maintaining their historical integrity of location (it has not been moved), design (it maintains its one-room schoolhouse design),[20] setting, materials (only minor changes have been made, like the addition of an internal tin roof and rehabilitated gables), workmanship, feeling (it remains a clear example of a one-room schoolhouse), and association.

During her 2018 interview with the current owner, Ms. Toland confirmed the top boards of the windows were in place during the time she was a student at the school.[21]

Toland added that a removable stage occupied the south wall, a black slate blackboard hung on the west wall, and all desks faced west.[22] She indicated the basement contained the furnace and bathrooms and where they had a table at which to eat lunch (see discussion about the plumbing in the “Basement” subsection. The removable stage is no longer in the school, but like the desks and the table in the basement, it was never a permanent fixture. With respect to the other features of the building Ms. Toland noted that the look and feel of the school was identical to when she attended school. She confirmed that the library area is identical, that the chimney, position of the blackboard, the placement of the stairs (compare Figure 12 with Photo 17), and the boards over the east elevation windows were exactly as it was when she attended school there. The furnace, something that was not a permanent feature of the school has been removed; however, the chimney the furnace was attached to still exists. Furthermore, the subflooring remains intact. Thus, the look and feel of the property remains very much the same as it did in the 1930s when Toland attended the Lincoln School.

The setting has seen some changes that adversely impact integrity. For example, the playground has been completely removed despite the pole remnant that remains in that area.[23] Three non-historic sheds and a carport being used as storage have all been added to the property. When considering the historic boundary of the property, these are the only changes. If the entire on-historic property is considered, a non-historic residence is included as well (See “Alterations” list for dates).

Despite the alterations, in the case of the Lincoln School, “the overall sense of past time and place is evident”;[24] this conclusion is supported by Toland’s statements. The general layout of the property both the interior and exterior maintaining their historical integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association remain. Specifically, the school sits exactly where it did during the period of significance. It still sits on the same four lots it originally did. The design is unaltered; the layout is mostly intact and recognizable to a former student of the school, as noted above. The setting also remains largely intact with the Walt Disney Park across the street and the surrounding residential neighborhood with some surviving 19^th and early 20^th century buildings. While three small, non-historic, semi-movable sheds and a non-historic, semi-movable shelter have been added to the historical boundary of the property, these are not permanent structures and can be moved. The building retains most of its historic material. While the main entry door has been replaced, the windows, the sills and lintels and building materials (brick, plaster, etc.) are all historic. The feeling is retained as well, as Ms. Toland commented in her interview about how it still looks and feels like it did when she went to school there; only items have been removed like the desks, portable stage, furnace/stove, and bathroom fixtures (of which the historic pipes still exist in the basement). Otherwise, she notes, the footprint and important features exist as they did when she attended school. Finally, association has been retained. The design as a single-room schoolhouse and the time during which it was built and used show the relationship between the historical period and the school are evident.

 

[1] Toland, Helen. Personal Interview. May 2018. Performed by Adam Skinner and Shelly Herring and phone

interview 2 August 2023.

[2] National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. U.S. Department of the

Interior National Park Service, Cultural Resources. 1997.

[3] “Architectural Survey of Marceline (MO.): Final Report.” Marceline Survey. Commissioned by Missouri

Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation Office. April 2018. Survey No. LI-AS-001-037.

[4] Linn County, MO County Recorders Plat Map. SAM. https://linngis.integritygis.com/. Accessed 1 June 2023.

[5] “Marceline’s Country Club.” The Marceline Journal-Mirror, 26 January 1912 indicates the country club was

organized and opened this year with 94 paid members. It was renamed “Santa Fe Country Club” coon after

organization.

[6] Waddle, Tanjua. Recorder of Deeds, Linn County, Missouri, Interview. 17 August 2023.

[7] Historic boundary confirmed during 8 November 2023 on-site visit by Missouri SHPO.

[8] Toland and Kremer, Gary R., and Brett Rogers. Survey. African American Schools Phase III. 2002.

Survey #SWAS023. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/ AA%20Schools%20PIII%20Survey.pdf.

[9] MOSHPO assessed it is the possible remnant of a tetherball pole. However, Ms. Toland has not

verified this. All that is known for certain is that it is in the same area as the playground Ms. Toland identified. Ensuing discussion concluded that it might a May Pole or even where a bell was.

[10] Kremer and Rogers.

[11] The previous owner left no detailed information regarding changes made after purchasing it in 1973.

Furthermore, Rich Hoon, Marceline City Manager, stated the city had no formal zoning laws until 1980. All records prior that, therefore, are, at best, inconsistent. Most records are missing due to this lack of codified building and zoning laws.

[13] Evidence of the wood clapboards was found by the owner shortly after he purchased the property.

[14] On-site inspection by Missouri SHPO confirmed this previously known system of drain holes in the steps is a

drainage system.

 

[15] “Our Story.” Majestic. https://www.majesticproducts.com/why-choose-majestic/our-story. The company started in

1894 manufacturing coal furnaces and coal chutes.  Accessed 28 August 2023.

[16] Toland.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Owner believes the gables were likely historically finished clapboards. He indicates that these were wood and had

asphalt clapboards which are now metal.

[19] SHPO confirmed during the 8 November 2023 visit that the historic subflooring still exists.

[20] Toland confirmed that the school had the exact same layout as it did when she went to school there in the 1930s.

[21] Toland.

[22] Ibid.

[23] Again, this pole remnant is of unknown origin.

[24] National Register Bulletin: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form. U.S. Department of the

Interior National Park Service, Cultural Resources. 1997.