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Trost's Albatross
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| The short-lived Territorial Industrial School. (Photo courtesy/W. Lane Rogers) |
By W. Lane Rogers/for the Range News
Full of himself, a journalist described this building as a "temple on a hill." It was not that at all. In fact, it was a poorly designed penal institution woefully inadequate to fulfill its purpose. It was, as well, the precursor of vitriolic debate that raged for a decade.
Benson was giddy with excitement when Henry C. Trost, among the Southwest's preeminent architects, was commissioned to design the Territorial Industrial School. Then, with virtually no guidance from the legislature, Trost created an edifice more appropriate for a grammar school or post office. Bulky as the building was, it was designed to accommodate comfortably just 25 youngsters. Consequently, overcrowding commenced the day it opened its doors, December 1, 1903.
The building was not a monument to Trost's creativity, and certainly not to legislative foresight. Electricity and indoor plumbing were afterthoughts, and a well drilled on the property did not provide water sufficient for the institution's needs. Years would pass before funds were allocated to drill a second well, and the school's 40-acre site brought under cultivation.
Wings of equal size were intended to segregate the sexes, yet girls never exceeded more than 10 percent of the aggregate population. While much space was wasted, cots for boys were set up in the dining room and hallways. During the summer of 1906, a carpenter cut a hole in the attic roof and installed a dormer window. The space-it was stifling in summer and frigid in winter-became a makeshift dormitory.
For several years, education was largely ignored. Attempts-on again, off again-were made at elementary reading and arithmetic, but there were few books, no desks, and no blackboards. Nor, during the early years, were there provisions for vocational education. The daily routine was fixed largely in policing the buildings and grounds, and in quasi-military drill.
The industrial school was an institutional orphan ignored by the legislature. Funding was bare bones and each allocation was fought for. Not surprisingly, management of the institution suffered, and so did the children. Escape became endemic and the school was plagued by scandal.
When the War Department gave Arizona Fort Grant in 1913, the industrial school was promptly moved to Graham County. Trost's albatross-less its basement disciplinary cells-became Benson Union High School.
Benson was giddy with excitement when Henry C. Trost, among the Southwest's preeminent architects, was commissioned to design the Territorial Industrial School. Then, with virtually no guidance from the legislature, Trost created an edifice more appropriate for a grammar school or post office. Bulky as the building was, it was designed to accommodate comfortably just 25 youngsters. Consequently, overcrowding commenced the day it opened its doors, December 1, 1903.
The building was not a monument to Trost's creativity, and certainly not to legislative foresight. Electricity and indoor plumbing were afterthoughts, and a well drilled on the property did not provide water sufficient for the institution's needs. Years would pass before funds were allocated to drill a second well, and the school's 40-acre site brought under cultivation.
Wings of equal size were intended to segregate the sexes, yet girls never exceeded more than 10 percent of the aggregate population. While much space was wasted, cots for boys were set up in the dining room and hallways. During the summer of 1906, a carpenter cut a hole in the attic roof and installed a dormer window. The space-it was stifling in summer and frigid in winter-became a makeshift dormitory.
For several years, education was largely ignored. Attempts-on again, off again-were made at elementary reading and arithmetic, but there were few books, no desks, and no blackboards. Nor, during the early years, were there provisions for vocational education. The daily routine was fixed largely in policing the buildings and grounds, and in quasi-military drill.
The industrial school was an institutional orphan ignored by the legislature. Funding was bare bones and each allocation was fought for. Not surprisingly, management of the institution suffered, and so did the children. Escape became endemic and the school was plagued by scandal.
When the War Department gave Arizona Fort Grant in 1913, the industrial school was promptly moved to Graham County. Trost's albatross-less its basement disciplinary cells-became Benson Union High School.
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