Building Oregon
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- Alternative Title
- Sacajawea Primary School (Portland, Oregon)
- Creator Display
- Raymond Kermit Thompson (architect, 1905-1995)
- Creator
- Date
- 1952
- 1991
- Description
- Oregon Historic Site Form. Prepared by Iris Eschen.
- This image is included in Building Oregon: Architecture of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, a digital collection which provides documentation about the architectural heritage of the Pacific Northwest.
- View Date
- 2009
- Temporal
- 1990-1999
- 1950-1959
- MODS Note
- Oregon Historic Site Form Sacajawea Head Start 4800 74th Portland, Multnomah County block nbr: lot nbr: tax lot nbr: township: range: section: 1/ 4: LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME elig. evaluation: eligible/ contributing primary orig use: School secondary orig use: Education- Related primary style: International secondary style: primary siding: Horizontal Board secondary siding: Standard Brick plan type: School ( General) Portland historic name: Sacajawea Head Start primary constr date: 1952 secondary date: 1991 height (# stories): 1 total # ineligible resources: 0 ( optional-- use for major addns) current/ other names: Sacajawea Primary School ( c.) ( c.) orig use comments: prim style comments: sec style comments: location descr: assoc addresses: vcnty address: ( remote sites) siding comments: PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS farmstead/ cluster name: zip: total # eligible resources: 1 apprx. addrs resource type: Building NR status: RLS survey date: 6/ 26/ 2009 external site #: 386 ( ID# used in city/ agency database) survey project name or other grouping name comments/ notes: ILS survey date: 6/ 26/ 2009 Gen File date: SHPO INFO FOR THIS PROPERTY NR date listed: GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS Optional Information 4800 NE 74th Multnomah County ( former addresses, intersections, etc.) architect: Raymond Thompson builder: NR date listed: ( indiv listed only; see Grouping for hist dist) 106 Project( s) PPS Historic Building Assessment 2009 Survey & Inventory Project South elevation Printed on: 10/ 14/ 2009 Page 1 of 3 Oregon Historic Site Form Sacajawea Head Start 4800 74th Portland, Multnomah County ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION ( Include expanded description of the building/ property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings, and alterations) HISTORY ( Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period [ preferably to the present]) Description Summary Situated in a primarily residential neighborhood in Northeast Portland, the Sacajawea Head Start facility is located at 4800 NE 74th Avenue. Built in 1953, the International style school building ( 386A) is situated on a 3.9- acre grass and asphalt- covered campus. The wood frame building sits on a poured concrete foundation. The main mass of the building is covered by a flat roof. The projecting wings on the east and west sides of the building are covered with shed roofs. Cladding consists of a mixture of red brick and vertical board and batten siding. The modified rectangular shape plan houses classrooms, a play room/ cafeteria, a kitchen, and an administrative office. Architectural Description Situated in a primarily residential neighborhood in Northeast Portland, the Sacajawea Head Start facility is located at 4800 NE 74th Avenue. The principal entry to the school is from the south on NE 74th Avenue. The playground and playfields are located directly to the north and the east of the school. The parking area is located directly to the north of the building. Designed in the International style, the school is typical of mid- century school buildings with its low profile and variety of cladding materials. The single story wood frame school is oriented on an east- west axis and sits on a poured concrete foundation. The main mass of the building is covered by a flat roof. The projecting wings on the east and west sides of the building are covered with shed roofs. The main section of the building is clad with red brick. The east and west wings feature vertical board and batten siding. Fenestration consists of a mixture of three- light metal frame hinged windows and double pane windows with hinged openings. The primary entry to the school is located at the east end of the south elevation. Recessed beneath the projecting eaves, the double leaf metal entry doors are flanked by horizontal multi- pane glass panels. The interior of the school is organized around a double loaded corridor that extends the length of the school. Tubular fluorescent lights are suspended from low acoustic tile ceilings, which are lowered in some sections of the corridor. The floors are covered with linoleum tile. Wood doors provide access to the classrooms from the central corridor. The L- shaped plan provides an alcove with a sink. Standard features include wood built- ins, closets, and moldings. The classrooms retain their linoleum tile floors. There are tubular fluorescent light fixtures suspended from acoustic tile clad ceilings. In some classrooms, the installation of acoustic tiles lowered the original ceiling height. The west wing contains the multi- purpose room, kitchen, and boiler room. Folding tables and benches recess into the walls to facilitate the use of the room as a cafeteria. Other finishes in the multi- purpose room include a linoleum tile floor and acoustic tile ceiling. The kitchen is adjacent to the space. The building is heated by steam boilers located in the boiler room. The radiators, located in the hallways and classrooms, have metal covers. Alterations/ Integrity Since the construction of the original building in 1952, the only significant alterations were changes in the west wing to facilitate food service ( Sacajawea Facility Plan, Portland Chronology Binder). There have been minimal modifications to the building’s hallways, classrooms, exterior cladding, roof lines and fenestration. The Sacajawea Head Start facility retains a high degree of integrity. Statement of Significance In response to residential growth in northeast Portland the district acquired the parcel at 4800 NE 74th Avenue for $ 19,242 in 1952. Named in honor of Sacajawea, the Indian guide to the Lewis and Clark party, the building was constructed for $ 202,184 in 1953. The school was built during a period of modernization and new construction initiated by Portland Public Schools ( PPS) after World War II. In 1945, the citizens of Portland approved a ballot measure that provided $ 5,000,000 over five years to construct, improve, and rehabilitate its public school buildings ( Portland Public Schools 1945: 2). The ballot measure enabled PPS to respond to the explosive growth in school- age children that had occurred in the city as a result of the arrival of defense plant workers and their families, as well as the deferred maintenance arising from the lack of funds during the depression ( Portland Public Schools 1945: 2- 3). Beginning with this initial bond measure, PPS embarked on an effort to improve its school facilities through renovations, additions, and new construction of over fifty schools between 1945 and 1970. For the new building program, PPS schools adopted the call of architects and school planners across the country for new types of schools. Nationally known architects including Richard Neutra, the Walter Gropius led Architects Collective, and the Perkins Will architectural firm promoted new school types that reflected both evolving educational practices and design philosophies ( Ogata 2008: 567- 568; Perkins and Cocking 1949: 238- 246). Emphasizing the need for economy and rapid construction, the designers adopted new materials that were standardized and mass produced including steel, plywood, glass block, and aluminum. In many buildings, architects achieved flexibility through the building’s structure by employing non load- bearing partition walls and zoned ventilation and heating systems. Folding walls and moveable cabinets provided additional flexibility intended to enable teachers to rearrange rooms based on lesson plan and activities ( Ogata 2008: 568). Although many of the architects for schools in Portland continued to design their schools to be extensible, designers turned away from the two- story schools with centralized massing popularized by Naramore and Jones. Instead many architects adopted the principles of the Modern movement and its regional variant, the Northwest Regional style, choosing to express functional areas through massing and materials to create innovative forms Printed on: 10/ 14/ 2009 Page 2 of 3 Oregon Historic Site Form Sacajawea Head Start 4800 74th Portland, Multnomah County RESEARCH INFORMATION Title Records Sanborn Maps Obituaries City Directories Census Records Biographical Sources Newspapers Building Permits Property Tax Records SHPO Files State Archives State Library Local Histories Interviews Historic Photographs Local Library: Multnomah County Library University Library: Portland State University Library Historical Society: Oregon Historical Society Other Repository: PPS Archives Bibliography: Bibliography McMath, George. “ A Regional Style Comes to the City.” In Space, Style and Structure: Buildings in Northwest America. Ed. Thomas Vaughan, 467- 499. Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 1974. ________. “ The Wood Tradition Expands” 528- 647. Ogata, Amy F. “ Building for Learning in Postwar American Elementary Schools.” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 67, no. 4, December 2008: 562- 591. Perkins, Lawrence B and Walter D. Cocking. Schools. New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1949. Portland Public Schools. Repairing, Rehabilitating and Modernizing the School Plant. Portland: Portland Public Schools. Office of the Superintendent, 1945. _______. Portland Public Schools Chronology Binder. _______. Sacajawea Elementary School. Facility Plan _______. Sacajawea Elementary School. Facility Profile. Ritz, Richard. E. Architects of Oregon. A Biographical Dictionary of Architects Deceased – 19th and 20th Centuries. Portland: Lair Hill Publishing, 2003. Snyder, Eugene E. Portland Names and Neighborhoods. Their Historic Origins. Portland: Binforrd & Mort Publishing; 1st edition 1979. ( Check all of the basic sources consulted and cite specific important sources) ( McMath 1974: 628). Classrooms featured extensive built- ins that included sinks, slots for bulky rolls of paper, and coat storage. Many buildings incorporated courtyards or long horizontal plans to facilitate access to the outdoors and expand the opportunities for passive ventilation and daylighting The architect of Sacajawea Elementary School, Raymond Thompson, was experienced in the design of public buildings from over 20 years of architectural practice. A native of Oregon, Raymond Thompson attended Washington High School in Portland. He obtained a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Oregon in 1929. Thompson married Polly Povey, a fellow student of architecture at Oregon in 1929. The Thompsons left Portland in 1929, residing in Denver, St. Louis and several cities on the east coast, and Ohio before returning to Portland in 1948. Upon his return to Portland, the architect worked in Pietro Belluschi’s firm until 1951 when he became the District architect for Portland Public Schools. In addition to Sacajawea School, Thompson designed additions for Ainsworth, Beaumont, Kellogg School, Laurelhurst, and the main building at Normandale, Bridger, and Lewis schools. Thompson worked for the district until 1953 when he established a firm with his wife, Polly Povey Thompson. The two architects practiced together until Polly Povey Thompson’s death in 1993. In addition to the buildings for Portland Public Schools, the Thompson firm was known for its designs for the Culver City Hall/ Fire Station and the Wasco Fire Station A good example of the mid- century school design that retains its integrity with its floor plan, interior finishes, fenestration, and cladding intact. The Sacajawea Elementary School was built in response to the residential development in southwest Portland during the PPS program of post- war construction and is eligible for the NRHP under Criterion A. The school was designed by Raymond Thompson during his tenure as district architect but archival research does not indicate that the school was a major commission. However, the building provides a good example of the small, horizontal plan buildings with limited International style details that were utilized to facilitate rapid construction of new schools after World War II and is eligible for the NRHP under Criterion C. Printed on: 10/ 14/ 2009 Page 3 of 3 South elevation front entry East and north elevations South ( front) and west elevations South and east elevations Sacajawea Head Start Exterior Photos ENTRIX, 2009 North ( rear) elevation Corridor Classroom built- in Media Center Cafetorium facing west Classroom built- ins Sacajawea Head Start Interior Photos ENTRIX, 2009 Sacajawea Facility ( Head Start) 4800 NE 74th Ave, Portland OR, 97218 Building Periods 1. Main Building ( 386A), 1952 Aerial photo © 2009 Metro, Portland OR Imagery Date: July 12, 2007 NE 74th Ave NE 73rd Ave NE Wygant Ave Sacajawea Head Start, main entrance, 2009 View Site in Google Maps Historical Significance and Building Integrity Contrib: High Significance Contrib: Moderate Signif. Non- Contributing 0’ 50’ 100’ 200’ N sandy Blvd Lombard st powell Blvd 82nd ave MLK jr b lvd 1
- Subject
- Work Type
- Location
- Identifier
- OR_Multnomah_Portland_Sacajawea.pdf
- Provenance
- University of Oregon Libraries
- Citation
- PPS Historic Building Assessment 2009
- Institution
- Submission Date
- 05/04/2015
- Modified
- 08/01/2022
- Collections
- Building Oregon (open)
APA
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. (30 Apr 2024). Sacajawea Head Start School (Portland, Oregon) Retrieved from https://www.oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df67rp081
MLA
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. "Sacajawea Head Start School (Portland, Oregon)" Oregon Digital. 30 Apr 2024. https://www.oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df67rp081
Chicago
Building Oregon, University of Oregon. "Sacajawea Head Start School (Portland, Oregon)" Oregon Digital. Accessed 2024-04-30. https://www.oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df67rp081
Wiki
{{cite web | url= https://www.oregondigital.org/concern/documents/df67rp081 | title= Sacajawea Head Start School (Portland, Oregon) |author= |accessdate= 2024-04-30 |publisher= }}
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