Historic Register Tour - Joseph & Bertha Kellner House 1

HISTORIC NAME	Hillyard High School
COMMON NAME	Martindale Apartments
DATE BUILT	1912 & 1922
ARCHITECT/BUILDER	Westcott and Gifford
PROPERTY STYLE
ON THE SPOKANE REGISTER	Yes - added 8/29/05
NATIONAL REGISTER	Pending
IN A DISTRICT	No
DISTRICT
NEIGHBORHOOD	Hillyard

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

The Hillyard High School/ Martindale Apartments property is the last surviving structure associated with Hillyard School District No. 122, which operated in the community of Hillyard from 1907, when the town was incorporated, until 1924, when Hillyard was annexed by the City of Spokane and the school district was consolidated with Spokane School District No. 81. With the passing of other civic structures, like Hillyard City Hall and Fire Station, this building is one of the last cogent connections to the days when Hillyard governed its own affairs and funded its own undertakings. Aside from the Hillyard associations, the high school is strongly connected to the progress of high school education in the Spokane area in general, and was the precursor of current John R. Rogers High School. Following its deactivation as a school, the property is significant as an apartment dwelling housing low income persons, many of whom were returning to blue collar jobs following WWII. Its occupancy rate reflected the rise of the Hillyard economy after the war and its subsequent fall as the railroad facilities began to down-size. For these associations with events significant to both Hillyard and the wider Spokane vicinity, this property is eligible for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, at the local level.