Franklin School Archives

February 7, 2014

Franklin School Safety Patrol

There’s no doubt that young ladies were attracted to those cool uniforms we School Safety Patrol guys wore. Not only did we have bright yellow helmets, Sam Browne belts and bright raincoats, but we also had the STOP flags that could capture the cute girls until you gave them permission to proceed.

Key post at Keller and Themis

Our patrolman bundles up against the rain falling on his post at Keller and Themis. That’s my 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon at the curb (mentioned for the car collectors who specialize in it).

White boots and rolled cuffs

This was the era of white boots for girls and rolled-up blue jean cuffs for boys. I mean, you had to buy them long because of expected growing spurts. Just like bikes were bought big enough that you had to put wood blocks on the pedals so you could reach them until you grew into the two-wheeler.

Not allowed to stop cars

We were strictly informed that we weren’t supposed to actually stop cars. Our flag was to hold back the kids until we were sure the street was safe to cross, then we would swing out flag out to reinforce to any approaching car that they were supposed to stop.

I did, in my role as Captain, turn in the tag and description of a car that failed to stop at the stop sign I had rolled out into the middle of the street. Whether he turned it into the cops or not, I never knew.

We took our jobs seriously

I am proud to report that all of our charges always made it across the street safely. Surprisingly enough, I don’t recall any of our peers mocking us for our duty. Maybe it was because we could sneak out of class early to take our posts. We wore our rolled-up white Sam Browne belts attached to our belts when we were off-duty.

Trinity and St. Mary’s Patrols

February 14, 2013

Old Franklin: Mud and Memories

You’d never know one of Cape’s westward expansion elementary schools ever existed. When Friend Shari, who lived down the block from the school, and I visited it February 12, there wasn’t a trace left. Oh, sure, if you look closely, the old building’s cupola barely peeks above the new building, but that’s kind of like hearing the echo of the music and not the concert.

We were curious about all the playground balls scattered about. Maybe the kids kicked them out into the mud and then were told not to retrieve them. They provided an interesting colorful counterpoint to the gumbo clay mud.

View looking south

This is the northeast corner of the old school lawn looking to the south.

Huge paved play area

There’s plenty of space for basketball and other sports. The perimeter of the paved area is marked off for a running track, but I’d sure hate to think of running laps on concrete. (OK, to be honest, I hate to think of running laps on anything.)

Earlier stories about Franklin School

August 6, 2012

Franklin’s North Wing Gone

I decided to make one last pass at Franklin School before leaving town. Looks like the north wing and the Kamikaze bees are gone. The old flagpole which had been knocked down and was on the ground in front of the school was nowhere to be found. I had hoped someone would salvage the unique base, but it’s probably buried in one of those piles of rubble.

One of the reasons for tearing it down was that it was supposed to have cost too much to bring it up to earthquake standards. Based on the amount of reinforced concrete and rebar I see in the photos, it looks like it was built pretty well.

Franklin demolition photo gallery

Here are some other photos of the demolition. Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side of the image to move through the gallery.

July 16, 2012July 16, 2012

Pfisters from the Air

Cape IT director Eric McGowen, a reader, asked if I’d like to see the Jackson Courthouse and the Common Pleas Courthouse from top to bottom – bell towers to dungeon. Do bears squat in the woods? You bet.

Bright and early (for me), Friend Shari came down from St. Louis to carry lights and tripods, and we met up with Eric and Don McQuay, public works director. I’ll post the courthouse pictures later.

What we ran across was almost neater than the landmark buildings. In the basement of the Common Pleas Courthouse hung three framed prints. As soon as I saw the round shape, I knew immediately that it was on the few photos of Pfisters I’ve seen.

This is a section of the photo showing the Broadway – Kingway split just west of Kingshighway. Click on the photos to make them larger. I made them a little bigger than usual, so they may take a few extra seconds to load.

A wider shot

This is the uncropped version. The Broadway – Kingsway split is at the bottom right. The next street to the left is Clark. The curved one is Thilenius. Central High School is at the top right. Franklin School is at the top left.

I used a polarizing filter to cut as much glare as I could, but there’s still some left. There was nothing on the photos to indicate who might have taken them.

Central High School

This is an enlargement of the Central High School area. It looks like the school might still be under construction, which would mean the picture was taken sometime around 1952 or 1953. The first classes were held there in 1953.

Franklin School is at the top left. The Grace United Methodist Church hasn’t been built yet. I’m not even sure that the streets are paved. Caruthers Avenue, especially in front of the school, doesn’t look like it. Themis Street has some gaps between houses.

2011 aerial photo of Central High

It’s a junior high school now, but to me it’ll always be Central High School. I didn’t have one taken from the same direction as the 50’s photo. This is looking southeast to northwest, diagonally opposite of the older picture.

Caruthers and Independence is on the lower left. The long, red building in the middle of the top of the picture is where Pfisters would have been. Grace United Methodist Church is on the right, near the intersection of Caruthers and Broadway.