North Junior High School

North Junior High School. 1105 N. 13th Street. North Junior High was constructed on “Lemp’s Triangle,” a vacant lot that had been previously used as a ball field by local children. The school was designed by the firm of Tourtelotte and Hummel, and built by J. O. Jordan and Son. Constructed in 1936, the project was made possible by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), a Depression-era relief program., Started in 1935, the WPA was the largest Federal relief program created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It provided jobs for millions of Americans, primarily in the construction of public facilities and infrastructure. In addition to the Junior High, the WPA was responsible for the construction of the Boise Art Museum (1937), the Ada County Courthouse (1938-39) and the Boise High School Gymnasium (1936)., In early Boise, elementary schools ran through the 8th grade, which was the terminus for many students, rather than continuing on to high school. The 1936 creation of the junior high system was meant to assist the transition and encourage the advancement to high school, though many felt this revolutionary experiment was doomed to failure. In fact, the new 6-3-3 school grade structure resulted in the majority of students continuing on to high school. As the first junior high in the School District, North was originally known simply as Boise Junior High until the second junior high, South, was built in 1948., North Junior High is designed in the Art Deco Style of architecture, which became popular in the 1920s and 1930s. The style emerged from the 1925 Paris Exposition Des Arts Decoratifs, which celebrated the advances of technology and industrialization. It emphasizes the vertical, often with projections above the roof line, as seen on this building. This impressive, two-story, brick school is distinctive with its pilasters (columns projecting only slightly from a wall) and stepped concrete parapet trim. Decorative concrete panels with low-relief geometric stylization (another hallmark of the Art Deco Style) adorn the two entrances.