Do You Know This Building?
Answers: 1. b) Frisco Prominently sited on Main Street in Frisco, this 92-foot long and 26-foot wide building is constructed of squared logs with dovetail notching. Scalloped shingles face the gabled ends that are crowned with decorative vergeboard (“gingerbread”). An elaborate open bell tower with the original weathervane straddles the roof ridge. The bell tower purportedly came from a demolished school in Breckenridge. Established as a mining town, Frisco experienced boom and bust periods due to its reliance on the silver market. After the 1893 Silver Crash, Frisco made a strong recovery with new mining interests. It was during this period that the building was constructed in the mid-1890s as a saloon. Evidence of this original use can be found in the old stone and timber-lined wine cellar that exists beneath the building. In 1901, the school board purchased several lots along with the existing structure. The building was subsequently converted into a school. On average 25 students a year attended the schoolhouse from 1902 until 1940, when the school district was temporarily consolidated with nearby Dillon. The schoolhouse was re-opened in 1947 and continued in use until 1962. The building served as Frisco’s only school for 53 years. In the mid-1960s, the building took on a new use, functioning as the county school administration building until 1981. As a result of the growing ski industry the town of Frisco was experiencing intense development pressures in the 1980s, and losing many of its historic buildings. One of a few significant historic structures remaining on its original site, the Frisco Schoolhouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and the city converted it into a history museum. |
