The imposing Gothic Revival Hume-Fogg Academic High School occupies the block of Broadway between Rosa Parks Boulevard and 7th Avenue in Nashville. Architects William B. Ittner and Robert S. Sharp designed the four-story building constructed of native white stone by George Moore & Sons contractors (The Tennessean, Sept. 8, 1912, p. 3). The cost was $400,000.
The school opened in September 1912 with “nearly 1,100 students” and could accommodate up to 1400 pupils. Prof. J. H. Patterson was the principal. The new Hume-Fogg high school was built on the site of the earlier Hume school, the first public school in Nashville. Hume was named for Alfred Hume, considered the father of public education in Nashville. Hume was asked to compile an investigation into public schools and his resulting plans were the basis of public education in Nashville. The cornerstone for the first Hume school was laid in 1853 (The Tennessean, Jan. 25, 1916, p. 79).
The photograph of the entrance by EVula shows the intricate detail of the building which still serves Nashville students as one of two magnet high schools. The other is the historic Pearl Street school, now known as Martin Luther King, Jr. magnet high school.
EVula [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)%5D, from Wikimedia Commons
All photographs are original images with all rights reserved unless otherwise credited. Kindly request permission prior to using.
Suzassippi's Lottabusha County Chronicles 
Hi Suzassippi! I was reading the book “A Mockingbird Next Door” about Harper Lee and there’s a mention in the book about the Monroeville post office being a WPA building with a mural inside. Thought you might want to know if you didn’t already. Enjoy all of your Lottabusha County Cronicles. Mr. Connie Simmons!
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Thanks for the tip. I have not been that way yet, but I always like hearing about one just in case!
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That’s an amazing looking building.
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It is indeed. I love that it is still being used as a school.
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It’s interesting how many high schools of this period had this castle like appearance. I’ve read that’s because they were attempting to emulate the appearance of British “public” (i.e., private) schools, which had that appearance for historic reasons.
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There is no denying that the European influence in architecture was strong, and definitely reflected the trends of the time. The US was always just a little behind what was fashionable in Europe, and [gasp!] when a new style was introduced, it was not always met with fanfare.
You raise an intriguing point about the appearance of British schools, though–sounds like fodder for research.
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The high school is impressive even today. It must have seemed very modern in the 1910’s. This was the era when there was a movement away from the smaller classical high schools towards larger 4-year general high schools that offered a wider range of courses and different tracks (academic, commercial, home economics, etc.).
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It is very impressive, Sheryl, and hopefully will be around a long time.
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