DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Burton Public Schools got their start back in 1874, and they kept at it, adding grades year by year until by 1926 they were offering nine of them. Now, that's steady work for a community, but the story doesn't stop there.
It builds. Because in 1938, Burton finally broke ground on its very first high school, and that is where things get interesting. The money came through the federal Works Progress Administration, the WPA, which meant the whole country had a hand in what was about to rise up out of that Washington County soil.
Construction rolled forward, and by 1940 the building was complete. Architect Travis Broesche drew it up, and local contractor Will Weeren put it together, and what they left behind is something worth slowing down to look at. The school carries an international and rustic architectural style, which is a combination that sounds like it shouldn't work and somehow works beautifully.
You've got abutting two-story rectangular blocks, clean and purposeful. You've got a curved wall near the entrance, which is the kind of detail that catches your eye and makes you think somebody cared about more than just four walls and a roof. And then there's the native field stone veneer, local stone pulled from local land, pressed into service on a building meant to serve local kids.
Burton started teaching children in 1874. By 1940 they had a high school worth remembering. Some communities plant a seed and walk away.
Burton tended theirs.
What the marker says
Burton Public Schools opened in 1874, and by 1926 nine grades were offered. In 1938, construction on Burton’s first high school began. Funded through the federal Works Progress Administration (WPA), the building was completed in 1940. Designed by architect Travis Broesche and built by local contractor will Weeren, the school exhibits international and rustic architectural style. Features include abutting two-story rectangular blocks, a curved wall near the entrance, and a native field stone veneer.