4501 Crittenden Dr
Louisville, KY 40209, USA

James Russell Lowell Elementary School, 4501 Crittenden Dr, Louisville, Jefferson County, KY

The James Russell Lowell Elementary School is architecturally significant as an excellent example of both the vernacular, institutional architecture of the period (1916) and of the Art Deco style as it was incorporated into an institutional design. The original section of the building, originally known as the Highland Park School, is reminiscent of the residential styles of this same period. It is intact including the only bell tower on a public school building remaining in Louisville. In 1931, when several new school buildings were constructed in the south end, nearly all used the Art Deco style. Lowell Elementary is the finest example of these, and one of the finest citywide. The unusual entry tower with stone pilasters, panels and cornice with stylized motifs is typical of the style and well adapted here to an institutional use. Combined, these two very different building styles compliment one another and are an integral part of the development of Highland Park as a suburb of Louisville.