The Great Seattle School Expansion of 1890
Facing a tidal wave of new students, Seattle’s rapid development forced the school board to rent dozens of extra classrooms and issue massive bonds just to keep pace.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The school system of Seattle needs no special pleading in order to demonstrate its efficiency. The year 1890 has been full of incident in school history, not only because four new and elegant schoolhouses have been erected, but because great advances have been made in the system. The taxpayers have given to their school board the widest latitude in incurring expense for the construction of schools and the adoption of modern methods. Although four commodious buildings have been erected, the increase of pupils is so great that no less than nineteen places have been rented as auxiliary classrooms. Within little over a year the school accommodations have been doubled. When the great Central school and the South school were completed, it was believed that ample provision was made, but before many months, complaint was made that the Central school was inadequate, and seventeen different places were rented throughout the city in succession to meet the ever-increasing demand. The school population as given by the census of 1890 is 7,304.
“Although four commodious buildings have been erected, the increase of pupils is so great that no less than nineteen places have been rented as auxiliary classrooms.”
The struggle to keep school infrastructure ahead of population growth in a booming city is a classic Seattle narrative. Just as in 1890, when the city resorted to renting makeshift rooms to house students, modern Seattle continues to grapple with the spatial demands of its rapid growth and the constant pressure on public school facilities.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.