Manhattan School
The single-story building has a vernacular design with a central entrance foyer, a hipped roof, a bell tower atop the foyer, and a flagstaff on the site of the roof. When the building was constructed, both the interior and exterior were covered by patterned metal plates. The plates were decorated based on their location; for instance, the plates on the outer walls were designed to resemble ashlar stone, and the plates on the roof resembled shingles. While most of the exterior plates have since been covered, the interior plates and the plates on the foyer's gable are still in place.
The Works Progress Administration added an outhouse added outside of the school in the 1930s. While the WPA built 1,100 outhouses in Nevada, the outhouse is one of only three they built in southern Nevada. The outhouse is considered a contributing feature to the school's historic nature.
Manhattan's population dropped as its gold industry faded in the 1940s, and by 1955 the school closed, as it only had three students. Due to an increase in gold prices in the 1970s, though, Manhattan began to grow again. The school reopened as a library in the following decade. The Smoky Valley Library District acquired the library from the county in 2002 and subsequently renovated it to include a museum and community center.
The school was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 2004.
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Harvey, Elizabeth; Terri McBridge (November 18, 2005). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Manhattan School". National Park Service. Retrieved January 16, 2013.