Resource Description

Resource Summary

Names
David Starr Jordan High School (Primary)
Resource Types
District
Important Dates
No dates recorded
Keywords (Subjects)
1920s
Los Angeles Unified School District
1930s
PWA Moderne
streetcar
Watts High School

Location Information

Addresses
Location Description
No descriptions recorded
Administrative Areas
Southeast Los Angeles Community Plan Area (Community Plan Area)
Los Angeles City Council District 15 (Council District)
WATTS NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL (Neighborhood Council)
WATTS NEIGHBORHOOD (Neighborhood)

Classification

Classification
Type: Institutional District
Related Features
No features recorded

Resource Descriptions

General Description
David Starr Jordan High School is a large campus located in the neighborhood of Watts. Its immediate surroundings include the Jordan Downs public housing complex to the north and west and railroad and industrial land to the east and south. It is situated on flat land near the intersection of 103rd Street and Alameda Street. The campus includes numerous buildings and athletic fields. The main administration building is two stories in height and PWA Moderne in style. It is T-shaped in plan with a dominant, projecting center bay. It is set back from the street by a landscaped lawn and a concrete walk. The primary entrance of the building faces south onto 103rd Street. The building is flanked by a classroom building on the west and an auditorium on the east. All three buildings appear to have been constructed in 1935. The campus buildings retain decorative features characteristic of the PWA Moderne style, including formal massing, smooth stucco walls, vertical bays, and distinctive geometric patterned molding around windows. The three contributing buildings are largely intact from the period of construction. The other campus buildings are located behind these buildings and are not visible from the public right of way.

Summary of Significance
David Starr Jordan High School is significant as a historic school of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). It embodies LAUSD's design and planning practices following the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. It is also an excellent, intact example of the PWA Moderne style as applied to an LAUSD campus. The period of significance has been identified as 1935, which is the year that the contributing buildings were constructed. Jordan High School was founded in 1923 as Watts High School before Watts was consolidated into the City of Los Angeles. At that time it was part of the Compton Union School District. The adjacent and surrounding neighborhoods were developed in the early 1910s and 1920s as streetcar suburbs of single-family homes. Historically, the neighborhood was located between the Long Beach Avenue streetcar line and the Southern Pacific Railway's San Pedro branch, which connected the area to Downtown Los Angeles and San Pedro, respectively. The construction of the Jordan High School in the early 1920s reflected the increasing population density of the area, though it pre-dates the neighboring Jordan Downs public housing complex. The original buildings on the campus were damaged in the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933 and were demolished. The school's existing buildings are indicative of LAUSD's design and planning practices following 1933. The three contributing buildings are constructed of reinforced concrete reflecting changes made to building codes following the damage to older schools in the earthquake, including the original buildings on this campus. The buildings of Jordan High School are exemplary of the PWA Moderne style. Their decorative features, including vertical, recessed window bays and geometrically patterned window and door surrounds epitomize the Art Deco influences and stripped classicist characteristics of the PWA Moderne style. The site planning and massing of the campus express the message of the PWA style by conveying the monumentality of public works projects even on the modest scale of a neighborhood school. Additional buildings on campus not visible from the public right of way may also be contributing to the historic district.

External System References

SurveyLA ID: 5a3534c8-cbba-487c-9b83-4a253dcafab4

Resource Significance

Evaluation Details

Date Evaluated
2011-12-30
Context/Theme
Architecture and Engineering, 1850-1980
L.A. Modernism, 1919-1980
Related Responses to Modernism, 1924-1970
PWA Moderne, 1929-1948
Institutional
Eligibility Standards
  • Formal symmetry and massing
  • Original use may have changed
  • Exhibits quality of design through distinctive features
  • Was constructed during the period of significance
  • Retains the essential character defining features of the PWA Moderne style from the period of significance
  • Stripped appearance with minimal ornamentation, including some zigzags, medallions, or plaster reliefs
  • Pier supports (rather than columns)
  • Windows arranged in vertical recessed bays
  • Replacement of some windows and doors may be acceptable if the openings have not been resized and original fenestration patterns have not been disrupted
  • Setting may have changed (surrounding buildings and land uses)
  • Flat roofs
  • Location, may have been moved for preservation purposes
  • Emphasis on verticality
  • Smooth wall surfaces, such as stucco, marble, terrazzo, polished stone (and brick, although rare)
    • Integrity Aspects
    Feeling
    Retains sufficient integrity to convey significance
    Location
    Design
    Setting
    Workmanship
    Association
    Materials
    California Historic Resources Status Codes (explanation of codes)
    3S
    3CS
    5S3
    Significance Statement
    Excellentl example of PWA Modern style buildings on a LAUSD high school campus. High quality design and craftsmanship.
    Periods of Significance
    No periods of significance recorded
    Date Evaluated
    2011-12-30
    Context/Theme
    Public and Private Institutional Development, 1850-1980
    Education, 1876-1980
    Public Schools and the LAUSD, 1876-1980
    Post-1933 Long Beach Earthquake, 1933-1945
    Institutional - Education
    Campus - High School
    Eligibility Standards
  • May include one or more buildings built during the period of significance
  • Was constructed during the period of significance
  • Retains most of the essential character-defining features from the period of significance
  • Some materials may have been removed or altered
  • May have been funded by the WPA from 1935 to 1943
  • May have been designed by a prominent architect of the period
  • Generally features a two-story rectangular-shaped main administration building with separate additional buildings for cafeterias, auditoriums, gymnasiums, and classrooms
  • Buildings designed in the popular styles of the day but particularly Art Deco, PWA Moderne, Streamline Moderne, and Spanish Colonial Revival
  • Should retain integrity of Materials, Design, Workmanship, Feeling, and Association from its period of significance
  • Modern lighting and fencing of site acceptable
  • Many pre-1933 schools were substantially remodeled following the Long Beach earthquake
  • Intact campus groupings from a single period of time are not common
  • Eligible properties under this theme may be a single building (generally the Administration Building) or a grouping (campus) of buildings constructed during the period of significance
  • Embodies LAUSD school planning and design concepts of the period
  • Schools from this period generally include buildings constructed after the period of significance and particularly after WWII which may be non-contributing
    • Integrity Aspects
    Feeling
    Workmanship
    Materials
    Setting
    Design
    Location
    Retains sufficient integrity to convey significance
    Association
    California Historic Resources Status Codes (explanation of codes)
    5S3
    3CS
    3S
    Significance Statement
    Excellent example of an LAUSD campus constructed afte rthe 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Built to the standards of the LAUSD in the post-earthquake era.
    Periods of Significance
    No periods of significance recorded

    Related Resources

    Related Historic Resources

    2265 E 103RD ST (Building, District Contributor, is a contributor to / has as a contributor)
    DAVID STARR JORDAN HIGH SCHOOL (Building, District Contributor, is a contributor to / has as a contributor)
    DAVID STARR JORDAN HIGH SCHOOL (Building, District Contributor, is a contributor to / has as a contributor)

    Related Historic Districts

    None

    Related Activities

    None

    Related Historic Events

    None

    Related People/Organizations

    GPA Consulting, Inc. (Surveying Firm, was surveyed by / surveyed)

    Related Information Resources

    Images
    Documents
    SurveyLA: Southeast Los Angeles Historic Resources Survey Report (Document/Text, is referred to in / refers to)

    SurveyLA

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    Office of Historic Resources

    Office of Historic Resources
    Department of City Planning
    221 N. Figueroa Street, Suite 1350
    Los Angeles, CA 90012
    (213) 847-3676 phone
    Email: planning.historicplacesla@lacity.org
    http://www.preservation.lacity.org
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