Monroe Elementary School is an early design by William B. Ittner from 1898 before the influence of English public (private) schools on his later works. You can see its similarity to Eliot School in Hyde Park.
It sits on a dramatic site, most likely predating street grading.
The central portal with a Syrian arch and a classical pediment with foliation is impressive.
As Built St. Louis captured over twenty years ago, this building at one point was sitting abandoned and open to the elements. It was renovated and is now a successful elementary school again.
Isn’t this Marine Villa?
I do not use the official City of St. Louis boundaries.
This is wonderful to see. The photographs superbly capture the design, the craftsmanship, and the materials that make this building beautiful. My great uncle, Bolen Carter (1905-1989), was the principal of this school from 1943 to 1953, when he was named assistant superintendent of schools for East St Louis. Before he was Monroe’s principal he was a teacher at East St Louis High School, which he had earlier attended as a student (class of 1922), and which he later served as assistant principal. Carter was an East St Louis native and stayed in the city until the mid 1970s.
Interesting, thanks for sharing!
Forgive me – I see now that the “Monroe School” I was referring to is a different school: Monroe Elementary School in East St Louis, at Cleveland Ave and 13th St., which was renamed Billy Jones Elementary School in 1987, and which closed in 2023.
*I mean at Cleveland Ave & 16th St.