Contact:
Kendall Poltzer
kendall.poltzer@wisconsinhistory.org
Platteville, Grant County, Wisconsin – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the listing of Rock School and Hanmer Robbins School Complex in the National Register of Historic Places on June 28, 2023.
The Rock School and Hanmer Robbins School Complex is located west of downtown Platteville. The property consists of the Rock School, constructed between 1858-1963; the Hanmer Robbins School, constructed in 1904; and a mine.
The Rock school was designed in the Greek Revival style, a popular architectural style for the time period. The two-story school features locally-quarried limestone referred to as “glass rock,” a large pediment, symmetrical composition, and double-hung windows. Between 1928 and 1963, the Rock School served as an American Legion post. In 1966, the City of Platteville established a museum in the Rock School dedicated to the region’s history of lead and zinc mining. The museum later restored part of a former lead mine located on the property. The Hanmer Robbins School, named for a prominent local educator, was designed by local architect Henry Kleinhammer. It displays salmon colored brick walls with a limestone water table, slate roof highlighted by a decorative metal cupola, double-hung windows, and classical architectural details. It was constructed as the city’s first high school and later converted to an elementary school. In 1980, the building housed a large collection of artifacts and renamed after the collection’s donor, Rollo Jamison. The exterior appearances of both buildings are largely unchanged since their original construction. The Rock School and Hanmer Robbins School Complex continues to illustrate the development of public education in the city of Platteville.
Additional information for the Rock School and Hanmer Robbins School Complex:
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: https://wisconsinhistory.org/hp/register/
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
