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Oregon Historic Sites Database

address:1131 SE Oak St historic name:Holy Names Academy
Portland, Multnomah County (97214) current/other names:St. Francis School
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:240 / 1-8 / 1N1E35CD 9100
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:1N 1E 35
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:0 total inelig resources:1
elig evaluation: not eligible/non-contributing NR Status:
prim constr date:1908 second date:1949 date indiv listed:
primary orig use: Church School orig use comments:
second orig use: Civic
primary style: Victorian Eclectic prim style comments:
secondary style: Northwest Regional sec style comments:
primary siding: Horizontal Board siding comments:Lap siding
secondary siding:
plan type: Modern School architect:Francis Jacobberger
builder:
comments/notes:
Extensive modifications, 2nd story removed. Building has has very integrity to 1949 date, but negligible integrity to prior periods.
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   Buckman Neighborhood RLS 2010 Survey & Inventory Project 2010
Farmstead/Cluster Name:St. Francis of Assisi
NR date listed: N/A
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 05/01/2010
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The former St. Francis Academy or St. Francis of Assisi School is a one-story building located at the northwest corner of SE Oak and SE 12th Avenue. The building is comprised of two buildings connected by a central gabled wing. The building segments sit on a raised, daylit concrete basement. The west section has a truncated hipped roof with an intersecting gabled center wing that connects to the east wing. The east wing roof forms a shallow U-shape comprised of a hipped gable roof with intersecting gable on hip roofs projecting west. This east wing is oriented north to south along SE 12th Avenue. The entire building is clad with wide lap siding. A horizontal streamlined emphasis is provided by two wide bands at the cornice and water table consisting of narrow horizontal bands of wood channeled siding. These details were added to tie its overall appearance with that of the neighboring church that was built in 1938. The windows are one-over-one hung sash, many of which have vinyl clad replacements. The main entry is located on the south façade of the central wing and is accessed by concrete steps. Open stickwork supports the porch entry that is topped by the banded cornice that projects over the porch entry. Windows opposite the double doors are narrow vertical paired hung sash. A one-story shed roof addition is located on the rear (north) elevation. The older school buildings was remodeled and reduced to one-story with a day light basement in the early 1950s. Its exterior was designed to conform to the style of the new church built in 1938.
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The school started in 1886, and was known as the Academy of Holy Names. The original architect is not clear and modifications to the original buidling were made in 1907 by Otto Kleemann. The school later became St. Francis Academy Day and Boarding School. See associated history of St. Francis Assisi Church. The school was purchased by the St. Francis parish from the Holy Names order in 1945. Not long after, a school remodelling project began. The modern detailing of the adjacent church, built in 1938, was incorporated into the exterior detailing of the school. In 1949 alteration designs were completed by Francis B. Jacobberger per drawings on file with City of Portland. The work was carried out in the early 1950s. The Archdiocese of Portland began the major remodel of the school in 1953. The upper floor of the school was removed and half the school was demolished (Portland Building Permit Records 1953).
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: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
Shellenbarger Index (Index/Summary 3: 237): http://libweb.uoregon.edu/aaa/shellenbarger.html Whalen, Willis L."The Pioneer Period of the Catholic Church in Portland, Oregon 1851-1881." M.A. Thesis, University of Portland, 1950.