Individual National Register Designation: 1985

Broadway National Register Historic District: 1998

Architectural Style: Richardsonian Romanesque

Construction Date: 1894

Nominated by: Vince Thomas (Landmark); Bonnie Campbell and Chris Larson (National Register)

Old Lincoln School, completed in July 1894 at a cost of $46,900, was originally called Public School #4. It was designed by Davenport architect E.S. Hammatt and built by John Volk and Company. Hammatt designed four other schools in Rock Island; only Lincoln remains. This is the oldest remaining school in Rock Island. It is also the only Romanesque building in the city.

Mary Platt was appointed principal. She also taught 9th grade. Shortly after that, 9th grade was moved to the high school, but 7th and 8th grades remained at Lincoln School until 1937.

Lincoln School’s interior is as interesting as its exterior, or so said an 1895 Rock Island Argus: “Its capacious halls are its peculiar feature, and educators from all parts of the country have remarked on this characteristic, not to be found in any school in the United States, so far as is known…” One is overwhelmed by grandeur of space when walking up the great central stairs into these magnificent hall spaces on different floors. The school’s library was housed in the halls.

The exterior of the school is simple and bold in massing. The hipped roof rises 41 feet at the ridgeline and includes cross gables on each of three sides. It is built of brick and both Anamosa and Bedford limestone. A flared and rusticated limestone base reinforces the visual weightiness of the building. The building is fronted with a brick bell tower with stone quoining. The tower was removed in the 1940s. Wrought-iron scrollwork spans the arch. The archway then leads to a recessed entry with two sets of double doors.

The school was closed in 1980 and was scheduled for demolition in 1984, but gained a reprieve when the building was designated a local landmark and subsequently purchased by a neighbor interested in saving the building. Though the building is still vacant, there are high hopes for adaptive reuse.

Old Lincoln School was named one of 2005's Ten Most Endangered Historic Places in Illinois by the statewide preservation advocacy group, Landmarks Illinois.

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