Dilworth Elementary School (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Explained

Dilworth Elementary School
Location:6200 Stanton Ave.,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:40.4682°N -79.9175°W
Built:1915
Architect:Vrydaugh & Wolfe; Dawson Construction Co.
Architecture:Tudor Revival, Jacobean Revival
Added:September 30, 1986
Refnum:86002663
Designated Other1 Name:City of Pittsburgh Historic Structure
Designated Other1 Date:November 30, 1999[1]
Designated Other1 Abbr:CPHS
Designated Other1 Link:List of City of Pittsburgh historic designations
Designated Other1 Color:black
Designated Other1 Textcolor:gold
Designated Other2:PHLF
Designated Other2 Date:1997[2]

The Dilworth Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a historic school building, completed in April 1915.[3] it is a traditional Magnet school for pre-kindergarten through the fifth grade in the Pittsburgh Public Schools system.[4] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

History

The school is named for the Dilworth family. William Dilworth (1791-1871) is credited with providing a school and teacher on Mt. Washington in the 1820s. Mary Parry Dilworth, widow of descendant John S. Dilworth later donated the land on which the Dilworth school was built. The architects, Martin U. Vrydaugh and Thomas B. Wolfe, also designed churches and homes for wealthy patrons, including the Calvary United Methodist Church. The school was designed three years after the Pittsburgh and Allegheny City school boards where merged.[3]

The building is brick, H-shaped, stories high. It was a consciously elegant design, stylistically unique in the city when built, echoing European school designs. It included kindergarten and basement play spaces as were becoming essential at the time; but here the playrooms did not receive as much design attention as such elements would later on, and were not particularly functional. An auditorium was added in 1927 and was well designed for its intended use with a full stage, and directly accessible without entering the main portion of the school.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Local Historic Designations . Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation . Pittsburgh . 2011-08-05.
  2. Book: Historic Landmark Plaques 1968-2009 . Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation . Pittsburgh, PA . 2010 . 2011-08-05.
  3. Web site: National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania. CRGIS: Cultural Resources Geographic Information System. Searchable database. 2015-03-14. 2007-07-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20070721014609/https://www.dot7.state.pa.us/ce/SelectWelcome.asp. dead. Note: This includes Web site: [{{NRHP-PA|H078860_01D.pdf}} National Register of Historic Places Pennsylvania Historic Resource Survey Form: Dilworth Elementary School]. March 15, 2015. Lu Donnelly. PDF. May 1985. [{{NRHP-PA|H078860_01b.jpg}} Photo]
  4. Web site: Pittsburgh Dilworth PreK-5. Pittsburgh Public Schools. 14 March 2015.