Eastern Female High School (Public School No. 116)
Public School No. 116, or Eastern Female High School, was founded in 1844 as one of the pioneer public high schools in the country devoted to secondary education for young women. The innovative programs of the school prepared female students for college, teacher's school, or a vocation. Among the prominent graduates of the Eastern Female High School were Lizette Woodworth Reese (1872), a poet, and Mrs. William Buttner (1904), one of the founders of the Campfire Girls.
The building was constructed for Eastern Female High School in 1870. It could accommodate 600 pupils and was equipped with the latest heating and ventilating systems. Stylishly built, the vertical lines of the towers, narrow windows and porch columns are broken by the horizontal lines of the stone foundation, the balustrade, the belt courses and the prominent cornice. In 1907, the building was converted to a grammar school. Public School No. 116 exemplifies the Italian Villa-style architecture of the late 19th century and includes such details as a square plan, towers, projecting eaves, bracketed cornices and a wooden-arcaded loggia.
Public School No. 116 is located at 249 Aisquith St. on the southeast corner of Aisquith and Orleans Sts. Public access is restricted.
Information and photos courtesy of the National Register for Historic Places Baltimore, MD Travel Itinerary, a subsidiary of the National Park Service.
