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Shelby High School was built in 1937 with assistance from the Works Progress Administration, a Depression-era Federal relief program. Designed by the local firm of V.W. Breeze, the building served as the Shelby High School for almost 25 years. Breeze studied engineering at North Carolina State University and practiced architecture in Asheville before coming to Shelby. He worked primarily in the Georgian Revival and Moderne styles and designed most of the significant commercial and institutional buildings in Shelby from the 1930s through World War II.
Breeze's design for Shelby High School blended classical and modern elements. The horizontal two-story school with concrete basement contains large classrooms on all three levels demarcated on the exterior by banks of large windows. Like many schools designed during this period, the building is symmetrically composed with a principal central projecting block with recessed entry flanked by fluted pilasters. A concrete panel above the entrance is inscribed with the initials SHS. The location of the school on West Marion Street was desirable to families and stimulated a building boom on this street. The former Shelby High School is located at 400 W. Marion St. in the Central Shelby Historic District. Now the Shelby Middle School, visitors must check in with the school office. Call 704-482-6331 for further information. |
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