631 North Albert Street
Saint Paul, MN, USA

Woodrow Wilson Junior High School

The information provided here is from the 1983 Ramsey County Historical Society and Saint Paul Heritage Preservation Commission Historic Sites Survey:

Date of site visit 1/15/1982 Fieldworker: G. Whitney

The fenestration is "rectangular 9/1," with a "flat" roof style. The building is built with a "brick stretcher bond wall covering."

Significant details: "Symmetrical facade with windows arranged in horizontal bands, ornate centrally located entrance bay with projecting Gothic-inspired detailing such as crenelation, simulated quoins, stone shields, and Tudor arched entrance. Similar detailing at outer entrance bays."

Significant site and landscape features: "Playground area"

Legal description: "Lot 1-30, Block 12, Syndicate #5"

Historical background: "This school cost $355,000 to build."

Level of significance: "Local"

Statement of significance: "A pleasing symmetrical design with unusual formal cast concrete ornamentation at entrance bays that is Gothic-inspired but has the vertical emphasis of the prevailing Art Deco Style. The school was probably designed by St. Paul's City Architect."

History
Note from Krista Finstad Hanson:

The Woodrow Wilson Junior High School building is historically significant as having been the first Junior High school built in the city of St. Paul. The architect for Wilson Junior High School was Clarence "Cap" W. Wigington, St. Paul's first African American architect, who worked as a drafsman in the St. Paul City Architect's Office.

The following information is from "An Inventory of Saint Paul Public School Facilities from the Past to the Present" compiled by Jene T. Sigvertsen, architect AIA, (1993, Saint Paul Public Schools report):

"Wilson (Formerly Wilson Junior High School, Benjamin E. Mays Fundamental Schoo, and Hamline Intermediate School) "School Named After: Woodrow Wilson, the twenty-eighth president of the United States Street Boundaries: Albert, Blair, Pascal, and Lafond Site Size: 3.64 acres School Square Footage: 84,220 Operating Dates: 1925 to present (1993) Date of Original constructionL 1925 Date of Additions: 1964 General Information: The site was acquired in 1923, for $128,625.00, and a building constructed in 1925 costing $360,091.96, with an addition in 1964 costing $147,764.83. The former Wilson Junior High was closed and students consolidated at adjacent junior high schools. The Benjamin E. Mays Fundamental Magnest School was relocated to the Rondo Education Center. Wilson is currently (1993) being used by the Early Childhood Family Education Program and Expo Middle School, grades 6-8."