The Main Building of

Torrance High School Torrance High School is a high school located in Torrance, California. Founded in 1917, it is one of the oldest high schools in continuous use in California and is the oldest of the five high schools in the Torrance Unified School District. Four ...

is located on the campus in Torrance, southwestern

Los Angeles County, California Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the List of United States counties and county equivalents, most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 202 ...

., Nomination for the National Register of Historic Places, dated February 1983 . accessed 2.28.2016. The Main Building was opened to students as Torrance School in 1917.

History

On opening the "Main Building" in 1917, Torrance School accommodated both elementary and high school students in its first building. In 1923, with the opening of the new elementary school for kindergarten through sixth grade students, Torrance School was renamed Torrance High School. Torrance elementary schools were in the

Los Angeles City School District The Los Angeles City School District was a school district that served Los Angeles, California, and some adjoining areas between 1870 and 1961. History The district was formed on May 2, 1870, with the same boundaries as the city of Los Angeles. ...

until 1947, when they transferred to a new Torrance school district. In 1947 Torrance high schools moved to the Redondo Union High School District and then became a part of the modern

Torrance Unified School District Torrance Unified School District (TUSD) is a school district in Los Angeles County, California, with its headquarters in Torrance. The district board of education has a president, a vice president, a clerk, and two members. As of 2021, the D ...

in 1948. - The article states "

Los Angeles UnifIed School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

" but the Los Angeles schools were not yet unified into a single school district
as this happened in 1961

Architecture

The Main Building, built in 1917, was the first building on the campus, then known as the Torrance School and serving all grades. It is a two-story structure designed in the

Mediterranean Revival style Mediterranean Revival is an architectural style introduced in the United States, Canada, and certain other countries in the 19th century. It incorporated references to Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Colonial, Italian Renaissance, French Colonial ...

, and has architectural elements in the

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

and

Spanish Colonial Revival style 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 ...

s. The central two-story section is flanked by one-story wings, which all frame an outdoor

courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...

patio A patio (, ; ) is an outdoor space generally used for dining or recreation that adjoins a structure and is typically paved. In Australia, the term is expanded to include roofed structures such as a veranda, which provides protection from sun ...

. The main entrance is the dominant element of the building's facade. It consists of a set of layered elements: a large

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

with a

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative Moulding (decorative), moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, ar ...

, a cofferred arch, a flat window with pediment above, a large arched fanlight, and a flat doorway portal. The doorway is flanked by paired columns. A rear addition was built in 1922, in the same style. In 1923, after the Torrance Elementary School was built on the campus, the original Torrance School Main Building was converted into a high school. The elementary school building was annexed to the high school in 1963, and was renamed the Torrance High School Annex building.

National Register of Historic Places

The Main Building was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1983. The Main Building is one of four on the Torrance High School campus listed on the NRHP, the other buildings are: * Auditorium—Assembly Hall (1938) * Home Economics Building (1923) * Torrance High School Annex (1923−1925), originally Torrance Elementary School.

References

External links

{{Clear Torrance High, 1917 School buildings completed in 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High School 1917 Torrance High, 1917 Torrance High School

History

Architecture

National Register of Historic Places

See also

References

External links