At that time it was expected that the building would ultimately become strictly a junior high school." The six-year high school (grades 7-12) was decided upon by the school board and was going to be used as such until further growth warranted a separate senior high school on a separate site. While the plan had originally intended that a junior high school be built on the land, the unexpected increase in senior high school enrollment which Milwaukee experienced following World Ward I caused the plan to be modified. The large, soaring central tower is a feature common to many public and institutional buildings designed in the Art Moderne style."Īccording to a school history that appeared in an anniversary booklet, "The building was built on approximately 12 acres. "The U-shaped building has an impressive, robust character distinct from the Collegiate Gothic and vaguely Neoclassical styles typically employed for Milwaukee’s school buildings during the 1920s and 1930s. "Built at a time when the Great Depression delayed most construction activity in America, this Art Moderne high school, embellished by local artists, testifies to the ingenuity and frugality of its designers and builders, who accomplished their work at reduced cost," notes the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Architectural Inventory. Wiley also designed Pulaski High School, a larger version of his Rufus King plan, in 1938, which was the last school the district would build for a decade its construction plans stymied by war. That's saying something when you realize Wiley designed pretty much all MPS buildings in the 1920s, including French Immersion (Steuben Junior High), Lincoln Middle School (Lincoln High), the former Jackie Robinson (Peckham Junior High) and a slew of buildings that all riffed on a similar design, including Neeskara, Fernwood, Townsend Street, Lloyd Barbee (Garden Homes) and many others. Olive St., which not only was built during the Great Depression, but really offered the ailing economy a giant middle finger with an almost insane attention to detail.ĭesigned by Guy Wiley, who was head architect for MPS from the early 1920s until 1951, Rufus King was built in 1932 and is really the architect’s masterpiece. Milwaukee Public Schools is blessed with a number of really, really gorgeous old schoolhouses, but few can compete in the ornate category with Rufus King International High School, 1801 W.
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