Vigo County Indiana (Page 2) has 5 places on the National Register of Historic Places including 1 place of National significance. Significant places include Wilson, Woodrow, Junior High School, Wabash Avenue-East Historic District, Wabash Avenue-West Historic District, Washington, Booker T., School and Williams-Warren-Zimmerman House.
Some of the country's most noteable architects helped create the Vigo County places including Miller,Miller,Johnson & Yeager, Gilbert Brown Wilson and Warren D. and Yeager Miller. Prominent architectural styles found in Vigo Country are Renaissance, Classical Revival and Greek Revival.
Historic Significance:
Event, Architecture/Engineering
Architect, builder, or engineer:
Wilson,Gilbert Brown, Miller,Miller,Johnson & Yeager
Architectural Style:
Tudor Revival
Area of Significance:
Architecture, Art, Education
Period of Significance:
1925-1949
Historic Function:
Education
Historic Sub-function:
School
Current Function:
Education
Current Sub-function:
School
The Woodrow Wilson Junior High School, constructed in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1927, is historically significant under National Register Criteria A and C for its association with the progressive education movement and as an outstanding local example of Collegiate Gothic educational architecture. Designed by the prominent Terre Haute architectural firm Miller & Yeager, the school was built during a period of rapid school expansion to accommodate the newly popular "junior high school" curriculum, which aimed to bridge the gap between elementary and secondary education. The building's exterior features striking Collegiate Gothic details, including elaborate limestone carvings, Tudor-arched entryways, stylized buttresses, and multi-paned windows, making it one of the most architecturally distinguished public school buildings in Vigo County.
Beyond its architectural merit, the school is nationally renowned for its exceptional interior artwork, which represents a masterpiece of Depression-era social realism. In 1935, local artist Gilbert Brown Wilson, a protg of Thomas Hart Benton, painted a massive, provocative series of murals in the school's main lobby. These murals, titled The Course of Science and The Social Chaos of the Modern World, utilize bold, dramatic imagery to depict the triumphs of science and industry contrasted with the struggles of humanity, war, and economic disparity. The murals remain one of the most powerful and intact examples of 1930s public art in Indiana, elevating the school from a local educational landmark to a site of national artistic importance.
