Brewer High School

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

Brewer High School is a school building at 5 Somerset St. in Brewer, Penobscot County, built in 1926 and opened to students that September. William M. Butterfield and Jean-Noel Guertin designed it in the Modern Movement style, also called Stripped Classical or Art Deco.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local significance in education and architecture. In 1925 legal authority for the High School District was again pursued; the school opened to pupils on September 13, 1926.

Physical character

The walls are buff-colored brick on a concrete foundation, with a cast stone cornice and diapered brickwork between arcaded brick pilasters. Inside, an H-shaped corridor links an auditorium with a stage and balcony to a sunken gymnasium with concrete seating. Its original steel-framed windows were replaced by 1982 with double-hung windows, and a 1947 vocational shop and gymnasium gave way to a new brick building in 1979.

Historical context

The site was chosen and bought in 1922, and legal authority for a High School District was pursued in 1923. Student activities included a Commercial Department established in 1907, an orchestra organized in 1912, and a band and new athletic field added in 1928.