McKinley School, Vassar, Tuscola County, Michigan
Location: 43.36814, -83.57635, at 524 Butler St, Vassar, MI.McKinley School, built in 1886 to serve pupils on the east side of the city, was originally known as the "East Primary Building". However, soon after the assasination of President William McKinley in 1901, the name was changed to McKinley School. It is a 1-1/2 story plain brick two-room schoolhouse on a stone foundation. The red bricks are painted white, and just starting to bleed through. The main entrance is through a double door located within an arched opening with a semicircular transom window above it. A 40-foot-tall tower once held the school bell, but it no longer remains. There is a large semicircular window above the first story on the front of the building, where a school identification sign is typically found. There is a small window on both sides of the door, and larger windows on the front of the school, outside of the foyer. There are 4 large arched windows on the left and right sides, and another 4 in the back. The windows have concrete sills and multiple row arches of bricks at their top. Projecting brickwork is used throughout the building in window surrounds, dental-type details under the roofline, and the huge arch around the front door. However, in my opinion, the white paint does a lot to hide these details as it also does on Cherry Hill School, and I wish yellow bricks had been used for them instead, as on several other Michigan schoolhouses such as North Grove School. The building was used for classes by the school district until 1964, after which it was used as storage by the school district until 1971, then sold to private owners. The schoolhouse currently houses a dance studio. A great 1916 photo of the school can be seen at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McKinley_School_(Vassar,_Michigan). The design of this school looks similar to Capitol Hill School, Monterey Center School, Maple Ridge School, Old Stone School, Thayer School, Salisbury School and Bell Tower School. |