Franklin School (Boise, Idaho)


Franklin School in Boise, Idaho, was a 2-story, brick and stucco building designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in 1926. The school featured a flat roof with a decorated concrete parapet. The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. In 2009 the building was demolished.

History

In 1876 William B. Morris established an irrigation canal from the Boise River to his property, the Morris Ranch, in an area that would become Boise's Central Bench. His nephew, William H. Ridenbaugh, completed the project in 1878, and the ditch became known as the Ridenbaugh Canal. Settlers established farms in the area of the Morris Ranch, later named the Ridenbaugh Ranch, after completion of the canal. In the 1880s Benjamin Scott purchased the Ridenbaugh Ranch, and he donated land for construction of a one room school at the corner of Franklin and Orchard Roads. Scott School was part of the community of Franklin, about three miles west of Boise City, and it was the only school in District #45, the Scott School District. The schoolhouse was enlarged to two rooms in 1901. By 1903 the district had 132 students, and it was ready for a larger school building.
In 1905 a new school was designed for the site by Tourtellotte & Co., a 2-story, 5-room building with sandstone facade, and it was known as Franklin School by 1906. District #45 was renamed the Franklin School District.
In 1926 Tourtellotte & Hummel designed an 8-room high school at the sight, adjacent to Franklin School. The 1926 building, Franklin High School, was constructed by contractor L.S. Mallory. The building was added to the NRHP in 1982.
A gymnasium designed by Wayland & Fennell was added to Franklin High School in 1936, and additional classrooms were added later.
By a vote of 214 to 2, Franklin voters approved annexation of District #45 into the Boise Independent School District in 1947. High school students from Franklin were sent to Boise High School beginning in 1948, and the name of Franklin High School was changed briefly to Fairmont Elementary School. By 1952 the name had changed to Franklin Elementary School.
Franklin Elementary School closed in 2008, and the building was demolished in 2009.
Boise City Parks and Recreation purchased a portion of the property in 2013, and the corner parcel that was the site of Franklin School was purchased by a gasoline and convenience market company, Maverik. Community activists opposed Maverik's plan to build an outlet at the site, and Maverik announced in January, 2019, that it would sell the site.