The Historic dome of Barton Academy, Mobile, Alabama

Outside of the rotunda is ringed by 28 beautiful Ionic columns.  With the weather being nice and the Mobile sky a Grecian Blue, looking thru the Ionic columns it was not hard to imagine I was in Ancient Greece.  

Last Spring I went on a Open house tour of Historic Barton Academy School building in Mobile, Alabama. The Greek Revival building built in the 1830’s was Mobile and Alabama’s first public school building. The building has been used as a School from the 1830’s to the 1960’s after that time the Mobile, public School board moved in. The building has been empty for some years now and is in major need of a restoration. The exterior is mostly original to the 1830’s but most of the original interior has been torn out over the many years of use. Only the interior of the rotunda under the dome remains in its original condition and configuration.

The views of Mobile from this 1830’s historic Greek Revival rotunda is amazing! Mostly one can see the century’s old live oak trees that Mobile is famous for. The way up to the dome was a work out of up and down. One of the openings is only two feet high and had to be crawled thru. We went thru the attic and saw the original timbers covered with ancient Black widow spider’s webs with the spiders sitting on the webs. The last track up to the rotunda was a 15 foot attic type pull out ladder to the room of the rotunda. Once in the rotunda this room also had many spider webs with big black widow spiders holding court covering the floors, walls and windows. Outside of the rotunda is ringed by 28 beautiful Ionic columns. With the weather being nice and the Mobile sky a Grecian Blue, looking thru the Ionic columns it was not hard to imagine I was in Ancient Greece. Here is more info about this amazing historic building.

Barton Academy is a 1830’s  historic Greek Revival school building located on Government Street in Mobile, Alabama. It was under construction from 1836 to 1839 and was designed by architects James H. Dakin, Charles B. Dakin, and James Gallier. Gallier and the Dakin brothers also designed the nearby Government Street Presbyterian Church. Barton Academy was the first public school in the state of Alabama.

 

Barton Academy was named for Willoughby Barton, an Alabama state legislator from Mobile who introduced an act that created the Board of School Commissioners of Mobile County on January 10, 1826^. This was the first education board in Alabama. The board bought all of the property in the block between Government, Cedar, Conti, and Lawrence Streets for $2750 in 1830^.

Lack of funding stalled progress on the project until an act was passed in the state legislature that allowed the commissioners to raise funds through a lottery. By early 1836 the building committee had managed to pull together $50,000 in lottery funds, a $15,000 municipal loan, and additional private donations. This included a large private donation from local millionaire Henry Hitchcock, who was also on the building committee. Construction commenced on February 13, 1836, the same day as Government Street Presbyterian, with Charles Dakin as the supervising architect. Thomas James was hired as the mason, just as he was on Government Street Presbyterian project.

Outside of the rotunda is ringed by 28 beautiful Ionic columns. With the weather being nice and the Mobile sky a Grecian Blue, looking thru the Ionic columns it was not hard to imagine I was in Ancient Greece.  

Barton Academy is three floors in height and is primarily constructed of brick which has been stuccoed and scored to look like ashlar. A heavy ground floor supports the main floor and the slightly smaller third floor. The building can be visually divided into a central block with a two-story, pedimented, hexastyle Ionic portico, five bays wide, with wrought-iron balustrades. A low-pitched hipped roof over this block is topped by a domed cupola that is ringed by 28 Ionic columns. The dome is surmounted by a lantern, patterned after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates. To either side of the central block is a plain section, three bays wide. Adjoining these plain sections are east and west blocks, also three bays wide, with each bay defined by projecting pilasters.

The choragic monument of Lysicrates, from The Antiquities of Athens, 1762.

Barton has had many unsympathetic additions over the years since construction, resulting in an interior that currently bears little resemblance to the original plan. That plan consisted of a central stair hall with flanking classrooms on all three levels. The original wooden windows have been replaced by metal ones. Only the interior of the rotunda under the dome remains in its original condition and configuration.

The love the patina on the age old capitals of the Ionic columns  

The Alabama Historical Commission and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation named Barton Academy as one of their "Places in Peril" in 2005, citing the school board's planned relocation of its administrative center and the general neglect that the structure had already suffered. Places in Peril is a list of threatened historic sites in Alabama. The school board relocated its central office in 2007 and was initially working with preservation agencies in an effort to have the building restored.

View of downtown Mobile

The restoration effort stalled on January 28, 2009, when the school board delayed a decision on setting aside an additional $700,000 for the renovation of Barton. The board had already dedicated $2.3 million to the restoration effort, but two board members stated opposition to spending any of the money on the structure, citing needs elsewhere in the school system. Barton was re-listed in 2009 on Alabama's "Places in Peril."

The views of Mobile from this 1830’s historic Greek Revival rotunda is amazing! Mostly one can see the century’s old live oak trees that Mobile is famous for.

The views of Mobile from this 1830’s historic Greek Revival rotunda is amazing! Mostly one can see the century’s old live oak trees that Mobile is famous for.

View of downtown Mobile

The views of Mobile from this 1830’s historic Greek Revival rotunda is amazing! Mostly one can see the century’s old live oak trees that Mobile is famous for.

The love the patina on the age old capitals of the Ionic columns  

The love the patina on the age old capitals of the Ionic columns  

The views of Mobile from this 1830’s historic Greek Revival rotunda is amazing! Mostly one can see the century’s old live oak trees that Mobile is famous for.

Outside of the rotunda is ringed by 28 beautiful Ionic columns. With the weather being nice and the Mobile sky a Grecian Blue, looking thru the Ionic columns it was not hard to imagine I was in Ancient Greece.  

Only the interior of the rotunda under the dome remains in its original condition and configuration.

Look at the webs!!!!

Only the interior of the rotunda under the dome remains in its original 1830's condition and configuration.

We went thru the attic and saw the original timbers covered with ancient Black widow spider’s webs with the spiders sitting on the webs.

We went thru the attic and saw the original timbers covered with ancient Black widow spider’s webs with the spiders sitting on the webs.

We went thru the attic and saw the original timbers covered with ancient Black widow spider’s webs with the spiders sitting on the webs.

A low-pitched hipped roof over this block is topped by a domed cupola that is ringed by 28 Ionic columns. The dome is surmounted by a lantern, patterned after the Choragic Monument of Lysicrates.

Barton Academy is three floors in height and is primarily constructed of brick which has been stuccoed and scored to look like ashlar. A heavy ground floor supports the main floor and the slightly smaller third floor. The building can be visually divided into a central block with a two-story, pedimented, hexastyle Ionic portico, five bays wide, with wrought-iron balustrades

Barton Academy is three floors in height and is primarily constructed of brick which has been stuccoed and scored to look like ashlar. A heavy ground floor supports the main floor and the slightly smaller third floor. The building can be visually divided into a central block with a two-story, pedimented, hexastyle Ionic portico, five bays wide, with wrought-iron balustrades

Barton Academy is three floors in height and is primarily constructed of brick which has been stuccoed and scored to look like ashlar. A heavy ground floor supports the main floor and the slightly smaller third floor. The building can be visually divided into a central block with a two-story, pedimented, hexastyle Ionic portico, five bays wide, with wrought-iron balustrades

The Neoclassical Greek Revival Cast iron fence was made and came from New York in 1839.

The Neoclassical Greek Revival Cast iron fence was made and came from New York in 1839.

The Neoclassical Greek Revival Cast iron fence was made and came from New York in 1839.