This People's History of Interbay School is taken from Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, 1862-2000 by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr. That book, published in 2002 by Seattle Public Schools, compiled profiles of all the public school buildings that had been used by the school district since its formation around 1862. The profiles from the book are being made available as People's Histories on HistoryLink.org courtesy of Seattle Public Schools. It should be noted that these essays are from 2000. Some of the buildings profiled are historic, some of recent vintage, and many no longer exist (new names and buildings not included in these profiles from 2000 have been added), but each plays or has played an important role in the education of Seattle's youth.
Interbay School
Interbay is the lowland area between Smith's Cove at the south end of Magnolia Bluff and Salmon Bay just south of Ballard. The Salmon Bay Annex operated there from 1901-02. The Seattle School District then purchased property for a permanent site at 16th Avenue W and W Barrett Street, and the Interbay Annex opened there in December 1902 with two rooms for grades 1-4, still as an annex to Salmon Bay School (see Lawton).
A permanent building named Interbay School opened on the site in 1903 with five classrooms for grades 1-8. The school became overcrowded in 1933, and Magnolia Annex was opened to handle the overflow (see Magnolia). When Interbay closed in 1939, the students were divided for the following year between Lawton and Coe.
Details:
Name: Interbay School
Location: 16th Avenue NW & W Barrett Street
Building: 5-room wood
Architect: James Stephen
Site: 1.76 acres
1903: Opened; renamed Clay on March 7; renamed Interbay on September 1
1939: Closed on June 17; leased for 99 years to parks department
1948: Schoolhouse removed
Use of Interbay School site in 2000:
Interbay Field
Seattle Public Schools, 1862-2000: Interbay School
- Posted 9/08/2013
- HistoryLink.org Essay 10531
Sources:
Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, 1862-2000 (Seattle: Seattle Public Schools, 2002).
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