Mount Rose Elementary School is one of two remaining Mission Revival style schools from a group of four known as the “Spanish Quartet.” These single-story schools were built as a result of a bond issue, and in addition to Mount Rose, McKinley Park School is the only other of the four to remain.
The other two schools making up the Spanish Quartet were Mary S. Doten School at the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, and Orvis Ring, on Seventh between Record and Evans streets. Mount Rose Elementary was built in 1912 and designed by local architect George Ferris, in a style that is rare for the Reno area. The school cost $1.18 per square foot for a total price of $39,743. An addition to the school, designed by Ferris’s son Lehman, was constructed in 1938.
The Mission school is U-shaped with an arcade sheltering the main entry and brick walls covered with cement stucco. The first of the two domed bell towers was built in 1912, the second added with the 1938 addition. The school originally contained 15 classrooms and a kitchen.
When Mount Rose was first built, it was located in a vacant field on the periphery of growing Reno. The vast residential neighborhoods of Newlands and the Plumas eventually grew around the school over the first half of the 20th century. Mount Rose still functions as an elementary school today, serving children from these large residential areas.
Access may be limited during school hours for the protection of the students and staff.
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Courtesy T. Turner – Desert flowers in bloom