The Milpitas Grammar School was designed by Frank Delos Wolfe The
structure was completed by the architect's brother, Theodore Linfield
Wolfe, in 1915 for $13,212. The Milpitas Grammar School
was completed in 1915. It
had offices,
at least four classrooms, and an auditorium. It replaced an earlier two
story Victorian
styled wooden schoolhouse that burned down in 1912. The earlier school
also utilized
the old Presberterian Church building next-door on the north side for
two classrooms.
Several classes of students had annual photographs taken in front of
this church.
Behind the old school was a carriage barn where students and teachers
kept their
buggies and horses while school was in session. It and a storage
building just to
the south both burned down with the school in 1912. For the three years
the new school
was under construction, students attended school in a building located
on the old
Weller Ranch about 200 feet north of the present site.
Classes were held in the new building until 1954 when the city was
incorporated.
For a few years it served as the city hall. It also was the city
library for a time. In 1990, the city undertook a
rebuilding/restoration
of the school thanks to historical photos of the courtyard
and entrance
provided by the Historical Society. For several years, the
building served as the Senior
Center until closed due to mold in 2002. In 1993, the school was
listed
on the National Register of Historic Places. Picture is from July, 1997.
In 2006, the city undertook construction of a library that adaptively reused the grammar school in the final design. The Milpitas Public Library opened in 2009. This is a state-of-the-art, spacious facility with a four level parking garage.