ORD-2015-004 (approved as ORD-2015-012) Ordinance Designating the Property Known As The White Cross School In Orange County, North Carolina As A Local Historic Landmark

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is very plain flat -board trim with rubber baseboards and doors are hollow -core wood doors. A five -panel wood door at the north end of the hall opens to the exterior. ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT An important component of the early twentieth century school consolidation movement in North Carolina was the establishment of the state's Division of Schoolhouse Planning in 1920. The Division of Schoolhouse Planning provided minimum standards for educational facilities and aided local school boards in selecting sites, plans, and designs for their modern schools .3 Recommendations from the Division of Schoolhouse Planning and the publication of school plan books in the 1920s led to noticeable similarities in rural school architecture. Many of the school designs were born of the necessities and challenges that rural schools presented and are strikingly similar to the Community School Plans published by the Rosenwald Fund. Large windows lined the school buildings, providing much - needed light and the height of ceilings and the location and placement of blackboards, desks, and other classroom features were such to maximize the effects of daylight. The school designs provided directions indicating how the building should be sited, so that classrooms received east or west light in order to maximize this effect. Brick was regarded as a desirable building material for a number of reasons, including its low maintenance, fireproof nature, and the clay -rich soil of the Piedmont was conducive to brick- making. 4 Additionally, seeing the need for formal places for the community to gather, the schools often included a meeting space or auditorium separate from the classrooms .5 Superintendent Brooks noted that "[a] school auditorium in the country is one of the best assets of a community. It affords an opportunity for the people to meet in large assemblies and for young people to have entertainment and a richer social life. As a result of this type of building, the school is becoming the community center. ,6 The White Cross School is typical of early twentieth - century, brick school construction, utilized a plan ( #5 -A) published by the Division of Schoolhouse Planning and illustrates many of the design principals promoted by the State Department of Education, and retains a high degree of material and architectural integrity. Comparable examples in Orange County include the 1923 Murphey School (3717 Murphey School Road-- OR0467) and the 1931 St. Mary's School (7500 Schley Road-- OR0657). The 1923 Murphey School, listed to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, is more decorative than the White Cross School, it's Spanish Mission style reflected in the pressed - metal shingles, meant to imitate clay tiles, covering the roof and the arched windows on the projecting entrance bay and on the side elevations of the auditorium wing (which was added in 1936). The front - gabled auditorium wing has a pedimented front - gabled portico with Doric columns and a half -round window in the pediment. The building retains a high level of architectural and material integrity on the interior as well as the exterior with wood floors, original doors with transoms, and original wood trim. After its listing to the National Register, it was fully restored to house the Just Right Academy in the classroom spaces and the Shared Visions Retreat (and event space) in the auditorium. It was designated an Orange County Landmark in 2011. s Sumner, Jim. "The Development of North Carolina's Public School System through 1940." Unpublished (on file with the North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office), pg. 13. 4 Sullivan, Patricia A. North Carolina Public Schools Pre -1941. Thematic National Register Nomination. 1989, pg. 1. s `Bear Grass School." National Register of Historic Places Nomination, 2005, pg. 13. 6 Sumner, "Development," pg. 8. 11