Category Archives: Architecture

“Modern American Schoolhouses – Some Recent Examples of Specialized Buildings”

The following excerpts are from Modern American Schoolhouses – Some Recent Examples of Specialized Buildings Guilbert & Betelle, Architects by Rawson W. Haddon in The Architectural Record, September 1914. This lengthy article is a survey of the firm’s work of that period, before the death of Guilbert. The author ruminates on the not-strictly Gothic eclecticism of these buildings, as I explored in my recent drive through Newark.

Many things have combined to make the school house one of the most complicated of modern architectural problems. Not only are the usual appointments changed extensively from year to year, but the growing tendency to devote the school to the broader educational uses and to various sorts of social betterment and neighborhood work has also brought special problems: and each new use, whether educational or sociological, puts before the architect intricate questions of design to solve.
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Columbia High School: Birth of a Building

I’m used to seeing old photographs of schools when they were new and pristine, set against the barren terrain that is indicative of fresh construction. And as my recent tour of Newark showed, it makes for an interesting contrast with contemporary images, where the landscape is overgrown and the school itself may be in various stages of decay. But what about the first stages of life?

A great find I made was a series of construction photographs taken of Columbia High School over a roughly three-year period, from 1925 until 1927 when it was completed. Except for the vintage cars, machinery and external scaffolding, it looks like any typical construction site; mud, wood, concrete and workers standing around. The photos were probably intended for utilitarian insurance record-keeping purposes, but today offer a rare look at the creation of a school building.
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A Drive Through Newark

I ventured back into Newark last week, confident I wouldn’t encounter the shape-shifting roads of my first trip. My goal this trip was to research a number of Betelle-related items at the Essex County Hall of Records. Going there served a dual purpose; not only does the Hall house the deeds and mortgages to all properties in the state (going back to 1637), but Guilbert & Betelle actually designed the building. So I was going into a Betelle building to research Betelle himself; you have to love the meta-ness of it. Continue reading

“The Unusual School System of a Suburban Community”

This article is from the 1928-1929 Yearbook of The American School and University. Much of the text is similar to the CHS article from American School Board Journal, which came out about the same time. It’s interesting to note that Betelle refers to “Messrs. Guilbert & Betelle, the architects for all these new buildings”, as if his partner, Ernest F. Guilbert, were still alive (he died in 1916). Also note that a number of the equipment suppliers at the end of the article may be seen in the advertisements I posted a while ago.

The Unusual School System of a Suburban Community
by James O. Betelle
of the firm of Guilbert & Betelle, Architects, Newark, N.J.

The village of South Orange and the township of Maplewood, N.J. are two separate municipalities, which are entirely independent of each other, but the direction of whose educational affairs is vested in a single Board of Education.

montrose-school.jpgThese towns are fast-growing communities, within commuting distance of metropolitan New York. Their school population has doubled within the last eight years and will probably double again in another eight years. These communities are typical American suburban villages, with a very high type of citizenship. Most of the heads of the households are business men who commute daily to their office in New York or Newark. A large percentage of the citizens of South Orange and Maplewood have sufficient means to send their children to private schools if they desire, but they have felt it better and more democratic to build good free public schools, and the illustrations accompanying this article show the type of buildings erected and the facilities provided.
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New Science Hall, Lincoln University

In 1925 Betelle designed a new science hall for Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. The November, 1926 edition of the Lincoln University Herald described the structure, as well as outlining the needs for campus expansion. The Herald listed Guilbert & Betelle as the school’s “Official Architects”, but they would eventually design only a boy’s dormitory and a facility for “underground steam & electric services”:

lincoln-science-hall.jpgNew Science Hall. A new Science Building, of which the corner-stone was laid at the Commencement in June, 1925, has now been completed and is being used by the departments of Chemistry, Biology and Physics. The building is a three-story structure of brick and Indiana limestone, designed by Mr. J. O. Betelle of Guilbert & Betelle, Newark, N. J., and erected under the supervision of Mr. A. J. Taylor, Chief Engineer of the Delaware School Auxiliary Association of Wilmington. The ground floor is devoted to Physics, the second floor to Biology, and the third floor to Chemistry. The building, which is said by experts to be a model of its kind in both design and construction, cost a total of $82,500, not including the equipment. Of the above amount $30,000 was given by the General Education Board, New York; $12,000 by Alumni of the University; $7,500 by Mr. Pierre S. duPont, Longwood, Kennett Square, Pa., covering architect’s fees and engineering supervision; $5,000 by the Presbyterian Board of Christian Education; and the remaining $28,000 from Trustees, Faculty and other generous friends of the University from nearly every state in the Union. The building has been fully equipped and furnished at a cost of $10,000, which was raised by special subscription.

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Needs. Under the direction of the Board of Trustees, the official architects of the University, Messrs. Guilbert & Betelle, educational architects of Newark, N. J., have prepared an elaborate plan for the enlargement of the plant of the University to accommodate an enrollment of 500 students. The enrollment this year of 304 is an increase over the attendance in any previous year, but this increase has been at the expense of crowding in the dormitories far beyond the limit of comfort and convenience. The erection of a New College Dormitory is immediately needed and is recommended to our benevolent supporters and friends of the Christian education of the Negro as an attractive investment, promising a maximum of usefulness. A large dormitory could be filled at once from the worthy applicants, increasing in number each year, who have to be turned away for lack of room.

The June-July 1925 issue of the Herald reported on the corner-stone laying ceremony, which Betelle attended, and included a photo of the hall still under scaffolding:

luh-1925-cover.jpgOn account of threatening weather it was decided to lay the cornerstone of the Science Building before the Commencement exercises in Livingstone Hall. It was stated that alumni had given about $12,000 of the $82,500, the total cost of the Science Building. During the exercises a check for $500 was handed to the presiding officer to help pay for the equipment of the building. The donor was Dr. Robert B. McRary, ’85, Baltimore. The architect of the building, Mr. J. O. Bettelle [sic], Newark, N. J., and the engineer, Mr. A. J. Taylor, Wilmington, Delaware, were introduced to the audience. The address was made and the cornerstone laid by Dr. Joseph H. Odell, president of the Delaware School Auxiliary Association, who explained that Mr. Pierre S. du Pont regretted that he had been called away at the last moment and could not be present. All expenses connected with the design and supervision of the erection of the building are being defrayed by Mr. du Pont.