Barker Elementary School: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Barker School postcard.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Barker School]]
{{Infobox former school
[[Image:Barker School fire.jpg|thumb|right|375px|''Birmingham Post'' photo of the school in flames. {{BPL permission caption|http://bplonline.cdmhost.com/u?/p4017coll2,845}}]]
|name          =Gate City Elementary School
|image          =[[File:Barker School postcard.jpg|275px]]
|years=[[1903]]–[[1941]]
|grades        =1-7
|enrollment    =527
|enroll-year    =1941
|colors        =
|mascot        =
|address        =1300 [[23rd Street North]]
|city = Birmingham
|map      =({{Locate_address_inline | address = 1300+23rd+St+N | zoom=17 | type=h }})
|district = [[Birmingham City Schools]]
}}
 
'''Barker Elementary School''' was a [[Birmingham City Schools|Birmingham school]] located on the corner of [[13th Avenue North|13th Avenue]] and [[23rd Street North]].
'''Barker Elementary School''' was a [[Birmingham City Schools|Birmingham school]] located on the corner of [[13th Avenue North|13th Avenue]] and [[23rd Street North]].


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The school was destroyed by a fire which started in the boiler room during the early morning of [[March 14]], [[1941]]. The fire was discovered by [[Ralph Blue]], a ''[[Birmingham Age-Herald]]'' paper carrier who noticed flames at 5:10 AM while working his route. Companies from [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 1|Fire Station No. 1]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 4|No. 4]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 5|No. 5]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 9|No. 9]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11|No. 11]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 22|No. 22]] responded to the alarm, which Chief [[Alf Brown]] described as 'one of the meanest fires we've had in a long time." The flames, fueled by pine-framed walls was conducted from the boiler room to the roof through heat transfer ducts. The firefighters' efforts were hampered by the steep hilltop site.
The school was destroyed by a fire which started in the boiler room during the early morning of [[March 14]], [[1941]]. The fire was discovered by [[Ralph Blue]], a ''[[Birmingham Age-Herald]]'' paper carrier who noticed flames at 5:10 AM while working his route. Companies from [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 1|Fire Station No. 1]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 4|No. 4]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 5|No. 5]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 9|No. 9]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 11|No. 11]], [[Birmingham Fire Station No. 22|No. 22]] responded to the alarm, which Chief [[Alf Brown]] described as 'one of the meanest fires we've had in a long time." The flames, fueled by pine-framed walls was conducted from the boiler room to the roof through heat transfer ducts. The firefighters' efforts were hampered by the steep hilltop site.


[[Image:Barker School fire.jpg|thumb|left|275px|''Birmingham Post'' photo of the school in flames. {{BPL permission caption|http://bplonline.cdmhost.com/u?/p4017coll2,845}}]]
At the time of the fire, 527 students were enrolled in the school. They were transferred to [[17th Avenue Elementary School|Seventeenth Avenue]], [[Norwood Elementary School|Norwood]], [[Martin Elementary School|Martin]] and [[Powell Elementary School|Powell Schools]].  [[Henley School]] PTA president [[Harry Singler]] labelled the older Henley and Powell Schools as "firetraps" like Barker, and suggested that the board tear them down and replace all three with a single, modern combined school in a central location, presumably downtown near the existing Powell School site. Some parents of children that attended Barker resisted the idea of sharing a new school with children from the newly-opened [[Metropolitan Gardens|Central City Housing Project]], expressing concern over the risk of students having to cross the railroad tracks on [[10th Avenue North]]. Ultimately, the insurance settlement was used to build a new 8-room addition to the [[Seventeenth Avenue School]]. The damaged building was demolished and the cleared site became [[Barker Park]].
At the time of the fire, 527 students were enrolled in the school. They were transferred to [[17th Avenue Elementary School|Seventeenth Avenue]], [[Norwood Elementary School|Norwood]], [[Martin Elementary School|Martin]] and [[Powell Elementary School|Powell Schools]].  [[Henley School]] PTA president [[Harry Singler]] labelled the older Henley and Powell Schools as "firetraps" like Barker, and suggested that the board tear them down and replace all three with a single, modern combined school in a central location, presumably downtown near the existing Powell School site. Some parents of children that attended Barker resisted the idea of sharing a new school with children from the newly-opened [[Metropolitan Gardens|Central City Housing Project]], expressing concern over the risk of students having to cross the railroad tracks on [[10th Avenue North]]. Ultimately, the insurance settlement was used to build a new 8-room addition to the [[Seventeenth Avenue School]]. The damaged building was demolished and the cleared site became [[Barker Park]].


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* "[http://cdm16044.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4017coll2/id/775 Barker Classes To Continue]" (March 15, 1941) ''Birmingham Age-Herald'' - via {{BPLDC}}
* "[http://cdm16044.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p4017coll2/id/775 Barker Classes To Continue]" (March 15, 1941) ''Birmingham Age-Herald'' - via {{BPLDC}}
* "[http://cdm16044.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4017coll2/id/10923/rec/1 Parents Reject School Combine]" (March 25, 1941) ''Birmingham Age-Herald'' - via {{BPLDC}}
* "[http://cdm16044.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4017coll2/id/10923/rec/1 Parents Reject School Combine]" (March 25, 1941) ''Birmingham Age-Herald'' - via {{BPLDC}}
==External links==
* [http://www.atwalker.com/pcb/school/barker.html Barker School] at [[Postcard Birmingham]]


[[Category:1903 buildings]]
[[Category:1903 buildings]]

Revision as of 13:18, 20 December 2017

Gate City Elementary School
Barker School postcard.jpg
Active 1903–1941
School type Public
District Birmingham City Schools
Grades 1-7
Colors
Mascot
Location 1300 23rd Street North, (map)
Birmingham

Barker Elementary School was a Birmingham school located on the corner of 13th Avenue and 23rd Street North.

The central portion of Barker School was built in 1903, with two wings added in 1910. By 1923 the school, with 16 classrooms of varying size, had an enrollment of 972 students in grades 1 through 7 and was judged to be "overcrowded" in the Board's survey of that year.

The school was destroyed by a fire which started in the boiler room during the early morning of March 14, 1941. The fire was discovered by Ralph Blue, a Birmingham Age-Herald paper carrier who noticed flames at 5:10 AM while working his route. Companies from Fire Station No. 1, No. 4, No. 5, No. 9, No. 11, No. 22 responded to the alarm, which Chief Alf Brown described as 'one of the meanest fires we've had in a long time." The flames, fueled by pine-framed walls was conducted from the boiler room to the roof through heat transfer ducts. The firefighters' efforts were hampered by the steep hilltop site.

Birmingham Post photo of the school in flames. courtesy BPL Archives

At the time of the fire, 527 students were enrolled in the school. They were transferred to Seventeenth Avenue, Norwood, Martin and Powell Schools. Henley School PTA president Harry Singler labelled the older Henley and Powell Schools as "firetraps" like Barker, and suggested that the board tear them down and replace all three with a single, modern combined school in a central location, presumably downtown near the existing Powell School site. Some parents of children that attended Barker resisted the idea of sharing a new school with children from the newly-opened Central City Housing Project, expressing concern over the risk of students having to cross the railroad tracks on 10th Avenue North. Ultimately, the insurance settlement was used to build a new 8-room addition to the Seventeenth Avenue School. The damaged building was demolished and the cleared site became Barker Park.

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