National Register of Historic Places

Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory)

Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California
Listed
August 3, 1995
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
95000998

About this property

Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls was a private girls' school in Pasadena, California. The school, which was run by educator Anna Orton, opened in 1890. The school was designed to prepare girls for a higher education at a college in the Eastern United States, as most secondary schools in Pasadena at the time assumed their students would go to Stanford or Berkeley if they desired further education. The school's college preparatory curriculum reflected a national shift in women's educational opportunities; until the late nineteenth century, girls' schools were mainly finishing schools or arts schools and were not academically equivalent to men's schools. Miss Orton's School was the first non-religious private girls' school in Pasadena, as well as the only such school in the city until 1913, making Orton a pioneer of women's education in Pasadena. The school closed in 1930. The first building at the school, which housed a single classroom, was constructed in 1892. A gymnasium was built at a later point, and a dormitory was constructed in 1900. A bungalow which served as Miss Orton's home was built in 1908. The buildings were designed by Frederick Roehrig in the Victorian Colonial Revival style; they were probably the only educational buildings designed by Roehrig, a significant Southern California architect. The classroom and gymnasium burned down between 1910 and 1925 and were replaced by a social hall. The dormitory is now the only building remaining at its original location; while the bungalow is also still at the site of the school, it was moved to a new foundation in 1947. The dormitory was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 4, 1995.

Location

154 S. Euclid Ave.
Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California
34.15269, -118.14294

Categories

EDUCATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Colonial Court
Colonial
0.2 mi
Mission Court
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0.3 mi
Odd Fellows Temple
Industrial
0.3 mi
Bowen Court
Pre Contact
0.3 mi
Court
Industrial
0.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of San Gabriel (California 1847)
1847Mexican-American War
4.4 mi
Siege of Los Angeles
1846Mexican-American War
9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory) listed on the National Register?

Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 3, 1995.

What type of historic resource is Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory)?

Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory) is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory)?

The period of significance for Miss Orton's Classical School for Girls (Dormitory) is recorded as the industrial era.

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