MANITOWOC, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of the Luling School in Manitowoc (Manitowoc County) on the State Register of Historic Places. The stately school is located at 1010 Huron Street.
Luling School is a two-story elementary school building that exhibits characteristics of the Italian Renaissance Revival style, classically derived and popular at the turn of the twentieth century. The gymnasium addition was designed in the Neoclassical style using glue-laminated wood beams. The school is reflective of the response to overcrowding on the north side of Manitowoc.
The Luling School was constructed in 1892 as a small ward school. By 1907, the local population increase coincided with statewide compulsory attendance laws, and the movement toward universal graded schools created the need for two large additions that seamlessly followed the original design. Between 1913 and 1920, the first vocational school in the city operated out of the building after state laws mandated opportunities for vocational learning. In 1938, the auditorium-gymnasium addition was constructed through the assistance of the Public Works Administration. During the New Deal Era, physical education became an integral part of curricula and educational systems between World War I and II. The post-World War II era resulted in a population shift from the city center, and schools were consolidated. The Luling School was remodeled in 1964 as the population declined and it was closed in 1977.
The State Register is Wisconsin’s official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin’s heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.
Additional information for the Luling School is available at: https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/NationalRegister/NR2838
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: www.wisconsinhistory.org.
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
