Property Record
104 OLD LAKE RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | AINSWORTH SCHOOL |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 22158 |
| Location (Address): | 104 OLD LAKE RD |
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| County: | Shawano |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Wescott |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 27 |
| Range: | 16 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 30 |
| Quarter Section: | SW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | NW |
| Year Built: | 1927 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19782017 |
| Historic Use: | one to six room school |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | LARGE CONCRETE ROUND ARCH TRANSOM PANEL AND DOOR SURROUND W/BRICK TRIM. LARGE ROUND ARCH TRIPARTITE WINDOWS W/TRANSOM PANELS & KEYSTONES. CONCRETE SILL COURSE. HIGH FOUNDATION W/FLAT ARCH WINDOWS W/KEYSTONED LINTELS. BRACKETED GABLED CANOPY W/RETURNED EAVES. 2017 - AHI #22158 is the former Ainsworth School, which opened in 1927 to serve School District No. 1 in the town of Wescott. It remained in operation until school consolidation in the 1960s, and then was used for storage by the Shawano School District. From 2001 until Dec. 2014 the building functioned as a retail space. It reopened in March of 2018. The brick, Colonial Revival-style schoolhouse has a rectangular plan consisting of two sections. The front, west-facing portion of the building is one story with a raised basement and hipped roof. The façade features a central, front gabled entry bay with cornice returns. The door and sidelights are set within a full-height round arch brick and stone surround. Rather than a transom light, a semi-circular piece of stone fills the opening above the door and is inscribed with the words “AINSWORTH SCHOOL 1927 DIST. No. 1.” The projecting front gable is supported by large knee brackets beneath each cornice return. To each side of the front entry are two four-over-four windows above a continuous stone sill, which doubles as a water table. The rear portion of the building is a half-story taller and has a side gable roof. In each gable end is a grouping of three tall, narrow, round arch window openings above a continuous sill/water table. The openings on the north gable end have been downsized and fitted with standard six-over-six sash windows, while the openings on the south elevation have been infilled with concrete. Between the two sections of the building is a broad brick chimney. The Ainsworth School is nearly identical, architecturally, to the nearby Laney School in the town of Maple Grove, which was listed on the National Register in 1998. The Laney School, AHI #46266, was constructed one year later, in 1928, and the National Register nomination form for that property suggests that the Ainsworth School served as a model for its design. The Laney School has local significance for its important historical association with the local community, and the Ainsworth School presumably shares a very similar history and had a similarly important role in public education and community development. With few exterior alterations, the Ainsworth School maintains the appearance of an early twentieth century rural schoolhouse. For these reasons, the property may be potentially eligible for the National Register. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date stone. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |