2215 N. 4th Street, Henry C. Koch, architect, built in 1887, closed in 2005.

This school is sold and it is being redeveloped as part of the Bronzeville neighborhood redevelopment initiative. A once proud elementary school designed by Milwaukee favorite Henry C. Koch, it fell victim to declining populations and private voucher schools. When I began studying the school for inclusion in the series, I realized that the three gable peaks on the central bay of the front facade didn’t make visual sense. I obtained a copy of Koch’s original design and noticed that it had a single, much taller peak and cupola. I read that the school showed remnants of charring in its attic, and I deduced that the fire must have occurred before 1927, when the building was photographed for the MPS publication Where We Go to School. If you look closely at this photo there is a difference in patina between the bricks of the three small peaks and the bricks below. Garfield Avenue School was attended by former Wisconsin Secretary of State Vel Phillips.