Florence High School is the

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

for the town of

Florence, Arizona Florence ( O'odham: S-auppag) is a town in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Florence, which is the county seat of Pinal County, is one of the oldest towns in that county and includes a National Historic District with over 25 buildings li ...

. It is administered by the

Florence Unified School District The Florence Unified School District is a school district serving grades K-12 in Florence and San Tan Valley, Arizona. Elementary schools Florence USD elementary schools serve grades K-8. *Anthem K-8 *Circle Cross Ranch K-8 S.T.E.M. Academy *C ...

History

Its current front building opened in 1916. It was designed by

Lescher & Kibbey Lescher & Mahoney was an American architectural firm from Phoenix, Arizona. History The firm was established in 1910 by Royal W. Lescher (1882–1957). Lescher practiced alone until 1912, when he took John R. Kibbey (1883–1963) as a ...

, Phoenix architects who "dominated the design of educational buildings in Arizona". The

Neoclassical Revival Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of the most promin ...

structure incorporates elements of the

Spanish Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish archi ...

style popular in the region. A one-story design was chosen, as many students would have traveled several miles on foot or on horseback. The building's orientation helped to keep temperature in the rooms, cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. In addition, the area under the front arches once featured windows and doors that opened at the front and back of the auditorium, creating a cooling cross breeze.Florence HS historical marker
/ref> The front building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 22, 1987, for its architecture, as well as for its significance as "a well-preserved example of institutional architecture in the early statehood period of Arizona history". The original central entry was filled in, leaving nothing behind the arches. This was the case at the time of the NRHP nomination of this building in the Florence MRA. Since then, a central entry with windows and doors has been restored.

References

{{authority control Schools in Pinal County, Arizona School buildings completed in 1916 Neoclassical architecture in Arizona School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Public high schools in Arizona National Register of Historic Places in Pinal County, Arizona Florence, Arizona International Baccalaureate schools in Arizona 1916 establishments in Arizona