Woolslair Elementary School

By Leepaxton at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Location:

501 40th St, Pittsburgh, PA 15224

Description:

The Woolslair Elementary School, located at 501 40th Street in Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, is a historic Romanesque-style school constructed between 1897 and 1898. Designed by architect Samuel Thornburg McClarren, the building was celebrated as the “pride of the 16th Ward” when it officially opened on January 6, 1899, following a September 1897 groundbreaking.  Built of brown brick with sandstone trim, the two-story structure features a rectangular front and T-shaped rear layout topped by a complex hipped roof. Its façade includes symmetrical entrance bays with arched doorways and Palladian windows set between polygonal turrets, and it originally housed 16 classrooms and a spacious 950-seat auditorium accessible from both floors.

Recognized for both its educational and architectural significance, Woolslair was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 30, 1986, and later received landmark status from the City of Pittsburgh (in 1999) and the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation (in 2001). Today it operates as Woolslair K‑5 within the Pittsburgh Public Schools system and remains one of the district’s oldest continuously used school buildings. In recent years, the school has become a notable community anchor due to its STEAM-focused magnet program, with passionate support from families and staff rallying to keep it open amid district-wide closure discussions.