Oregon Historic Sites Database

Search Menu

Site Information small logo

Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:531 SE 14th Ave historic name:Washington High School
Portland, Multnomah County (97214) current/other names:Child Service Center Facility; Washington Monroe High School
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:282-283 / 1S1E02BA 101
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1S 1E 2
resource type:Building height (stories):4.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:0
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1923 second date:1957 date indiv listed:11/09/2015
primary orig use: School orig use comments:Secondary: Commerce/Trade: business; restaurant
second orig use: RECR/CULTURE: General
primary style: Classical Revival: other prim style comments:
secondary style: Beaux Arts sec style comments:
primary siding: Standard Brick siding comments:
secondary siding: Poured Concrete
plan type: School (General) architect:Houghtaling & Dougan Architects
builder:Parker and Banfield
comments/notes:
The main classroom building (370A) and auto shop (370E) are not contributing resources/not eligible. Current functions are Commerce: Business; Restaurant as well as Recreation & Culture: music facility
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Buckman Neighborhood RLS 2010 Survey & Inventory Project 2010
   North Buckman Historic District Potential Historic District 07/10/2013 2013
   Portland Public Schools Historic Building Assessment Survey & Inventory Project 2009
NR date listed: 11/09/2015
ILS survey date: 06/09/2009
RLS survey date: 06/09/2009
Special Assessment
Status Term End Yr
Active 1st  2024
Federal Tax Program
Status Start Compl
Dormant 11/01/2013  
106 Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
Washington High School is located in Portland, Oregon on the east side of the Willamette River. The site is bounded by SE Stark Street to the north, SE 12th Avenue to the west, SE Alder Street (vacated) to the south, and SE 14th Avenue to the east. The school building is located at the southwest quadrant of the intersection of SE Stark Street and SE 14th Avenue in Portland’s Buckman Neighborhood. The blocks to the north, south, and west feature primarily one- and two-story commercial and apartment buildings, while the east side of SE 14th Avenue is primarily single and multifamily residences. Washington High School is a 104,000 square-foot, four-story, poured-in-place concrete building that was constructed from 1923 to1924. Designed in the Classical Revival style by the Portland architecture firm of Houghtaling & Dougan, the building is faced with red brick and speckle-glazed terracotta moldings and details. It features rigorous symmetry and a centralized tripartite portico with engaged columns on its primary (west) façade. Other decorative details can be found across the building’s exterior including bas relief panels, engaged brick pilasters, lions heads, caryatid heads, and inspirational quotes. Inside Washington High School, the spaces that originally comprised the classrooms, science laboratories, offices, and support spaces are located along all four of the building’s window walls. A donut-shaped corridor up to eighteen feet wide acts as the building’s primary thoroughfare. At the core of the building is an 830-seat auditorium with a balcony. The building ceased functioning as a high school in 1981. While it was used for social service uses until the 1990s, it was largely vacant until Portland Public Schools sold the property to a private party in October 2013. At that time the building underwent a substantial rehabilitation and was converted to commercial office and retail use. The flagpole plaza in front of the building, the athletic field, and vacant land/parking lots to the south of the building were sold to the City of Portland’s Bureau of Parks & Recreation in 2004.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
Washington High School is locally significant under Criterion A for its significant role in the development Portland’s inner eastside and the community life of its residents and their children during the early 20th century. The building and campus are associated with the City of Portland’s changing education system and school-building techniques and priorities during its period of significance from 1923 to 1957. In particular, this period was marked by the need for expanded school facilities; growing concerns around health and safety (with a particular focus on fire prevention); and school designs that offered optimal learning environments as espoused by education experts at the time. The history of Washington High School embodies the struggles of a young West Coast city attempting to establish its public education system within a rapidly-expanding population base. Its location, siting, campus development, architectural design, and construction reflect the priorities, values, and challenges of its time. Additionally, this building is located within the boundaries and meets the registration requirements described in the multiple property listing, “Portland Oregon’s Eastside Historic and Architectural Resources, 1850-1938.”
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library:Multnomah County Library University Library:Portland State University Library
Historical Society:Oregon Historical Society Other Respository:PPS Archives
Bibliography:
Askin, Timothy, Ernestina Fuenmayor and Carl Abbott. North Buckman Historic District. National Register Nomination, Washington DC: National Park Service, 2012. Carey, Charles Henry. "Houghtaling & Dougan." History of Oregon v. 2, 433-34. Pioneer Historical Publishing Company, 1922. Cox, Mary Frances. "High Schools Devote An Assembly to Fire Prevention Cause." Oregonian, October 10, 1920, 10. Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson. The Portland Survey: A Textbook on City School Administration Based on a Concrete Study. Yonkers-on-Hudson, NY: World Book Co., 1915. Digital Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps 1889 - 1950, University of Oregon Library, http://sanborn.umi.com.libproxy.uoregon.edu/or/7411/dateid-000005.htm?CCSI=2197n. Dougan, Leigh, and Chester Houghtaling. Original Architectural Plans for Washington High School. Portland, OR, 1923. Downs, Windfield Scott. "Leigh Dougan." Encyclopedia of Northwest Geography. New York: The American Historical Company, Inc., 1943. Entrix. Portland Public Schools: Historic Building Assesment. Portland Public Schools, 2009. Fire and Water Engineering. "Two of the Many Recent School Fires." December 20, 1922, 1097, 1109-1110. Lencek, Lena, and Gideon Bosker. Frozen Music: A History of Portland Architecture. Portland: Western Imprints, 1985. McGrath, Ted. "Portland High Schools Resume Activities For Fall Term." Oregonian, September 17, 1922, 6. Nokes, Richard. "Our Schools: Critics of Methods Vocal Way Back When." Oregonian, June 5, 1950, 10. Oregonian. "$22,073 Bid Wins Gymnasium Work." March 5, 1929, 8. Oregonian. “ Auditorium Contract Let.” August 5, 1930, 3. Oregonian. "Building Is Started." November 5, 1911, 8. Oregonian. "Building Plans Wait Attention of Busy School Officials." April 7, 1957, 48. Oregonian. "Building to Commence." August 24, 1923, 6. Oregonian. "Central School Next." July 21, 1899, 5. Oregonian. "Change in Names of High Schools." February 9, 1909, 10. Oregonian. "City High School Pupils Spend Busy Week in Study and Play." March 4, 1923, 10. Oregonian. "City News in Brief." November 1, 1922, 13. Oregonian. "City News in Brief." January 31, 1923. Oregonian. "City News in Brief." March 6, 1923. Oregonian. "Code Adds to Cost." July 17, 1910, 7. Oregonian. "Complete Upper Floors." January 30, 1907, 14. Oregonian. "Concrete Is Being Poured." October 21, 1923, 3. Oregonian. "Contracts Add School." August 6, 1960, 5. Oregonian. "Cost Under Estimate." April 26, 1923, 6. Oregonian. "Criticised By Architects." March 5, 1908, 11. Oregonian. "Directors in Deadlock." March 20, 1924, 4. Oregonian. "East Side High School Building Will Not Be Completed Until Next Year." July 24, 1906, 10. Oregonian. "East Side Wins Point." September 6, 1912, 1912. Oregonian. "Fire Equipment Asked." November 16, 1922, 28. Oregonian. "Fire Losses $1,450,618." February 7, 1923. Oregonian. "Fireman Admits Incendiary Career." February 20, 1925, 12. Oregonian. "For East Side High School." September 1, 1905, 11. Oregonian. "Franklin's Orator Wins Journey East." October 13, 1928, 1. Oregonian. "Graduating Class at Washington High Presents Class Play." May 17, 1925, 80. Oregonian. "Guards to Watch Portland Schools." October 27, 1922, 13. Oregonian. "Hawthorne Building, School Landmark, On Way Out." January 5, 1958, 20. Oregonian. "Hawthorne Folks Astir." November 12, 1914, 5. Oregonian. "High School Full." August 11, 1906, 9. Oregonian. “History of Hawthorne School.” December 26, 1904, 7. Oregonian. "Honor Paid Heroes of City's Defense." May 2, 1926. Oregonian. “Joseph Buchtel 84.” November 23, 1914, 7. Oregonian. "Mecklem Proposes to Install Radio Programs in Schools of Portland." March 4, 1930, 1. Oregonian. "Model School is Shown." December 9, 1923, 75. Oregonian. "Mr. Clark Defends School Estimates." May 27, 1923, 6. Oregonian. "New East-Side High School to Cost One Hundred Thousand Dollars." June 25, 1905, 11. Oregonian. "New High School Opens." February 11, 1907, 8. Oregonian. "New Schools Finished." August 24, 1924. Oregonian. "Objects to Site." April 12, 1905, 10. Oregonian. "One-Story School Is Plan (sic)." October 30, 1913, 9. Oregonian. “Playground is Essential.” December 16, 1903, 11. Oregonian. “Pleaders Besiege Board for Schools.” November 20, 1914, 4. Oregonian. "Pledges Annoy Board." March 10, 1923, 2. Oregonian. "Portland--Its Superior Educational Advantages." November 18, 1919, 19. Oregonian. “Portland School Needs is $1,000,000.” December 22, 1912, 7. Oregonian. "Portland's School Population Makes Big Gain in Past Year." September 10, 1911, 9. Oregonian. "Rebuilding Underway." October 24, 1909, 10. Oregonian. "Religious Issue Again at Front." December 7, 1922, 4. Oregonian. "Report and Recommendation of the Taxpayer's Leauge of Portland." June 15, 1923, 13. Oregonian. "School Bids Due Shortly." April 29, 1923, 9. Oregonian. "School Blaze Is Laid To Firebug." October 26, 1922, 1-4. Oregonian. "School Board Praises Superintendent Edwards." October 25, 1960, 36. Oregonian. “School Buildings’ Unit Size Decided.” April 5, 1927, 4. Oregonian. "School Directors Move Cautiously." March 1, 1923, 6. Oregonian. "School District Merger Proposed." December 21, 1922, 4. Oregonian. “School Grounds Bought.” March 9, 1930, 20. Oregonian. "School Holiday at End." January 1, 1923. Oregonian. “School Names Pour In.” October 15, 1915, 13. Oregonian. "School Plans Are Ready." April 23, 1923. Oregonian. "School Plans Held Up." September 13, 1923, 2. Oregonian. "School Removal Subject." November 18, 1913, 13. Oregonian. "School Site Is Small." November 7, 1909, 12. Oregonian. "Schools Normal Again." October 28, 1922, 3. Oregonian. "Schools Seek." May 3, 1964, 43. Oregonian. "Schools Will Add 7 Kindergartens." January 22, 1929, 20. Oregonian. "Students to Be Guests." May 8, 1925, 16. Oregonian. "Time Given Architect." November 14, 1922, 4. Oregonian. "Unite 2 Schools It Is Suggested." November 23, 1913, 11. Oregonian. "Washington Gym Dedication Slated." September 27, 1959, 75. Oregonian. "Washington High Is Swept By Fire." October 25, 1922, 1. Oregonian. "Washington High School Has Record of 118 Graduates." June 22, 1913, 8. Oregonian. "Washington High School to Present Class Play Tonight in Auditorium." November 17, 1922, 6. Oregonian. "Work is Delayed." July 25, 1906, 10. Oregonian. “Vote on School Tax Levy Asked.” December 27, 1909, 9. Ritz, Richard. Architects of Oregon. Portland: Lair Hill Publishing, 2002. Zisman, K., J. Koler, J. Grimala, B. Morrison, A. Yost, Timothy Askin, and Ernestina Fuenmayor. Portland Oregon's Eastside Historic and Architectural Resources, 1850-1938. National Register Nomination, Washington DC: National Park Service, 1988, 2012.