Franklin School (Washington, D.C.)
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Franklin School
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| Location | 13th and K Sts., NW., Washington, D.C. |
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| Coordinates | 38°54′8″N 77°1′47″W / 38.90222°N 77.02972°WCoordinates: 38°54′8″N 77°1′47″W / 38.90222°N 77.02972°W |
| Built | 1865 |
| Architect | Cluss, Adolf |
| NRHP Reference # | 73002085 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 11, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | June 19, 1996 |
The Franklin School is a building designed by Adolf Cluss, located on Franklin Square at 13th and K Street in Washington, DC.
Built in 1869, the Franklin School was the flagship building of eight modern urban public school buildings constructed in Washington, D.C. between 1862 and 1875 to house, for the first time, a comprehensive system of universal public education.
In addition to being an admired educational facility, a small plaque on its exterior describes the building's place in the history of telecommunications, noting Alexander Graham Bell's first wireless communication in 1880, where a beam of light was used to transmit a voice message using his newly invented Photophone. Bell's laboratory was nearby on 'L' Street and his work was a pioneering step in optical communications, the forerunner of fiber-optic communication systems which now carry most of the world's telecommunications traffic. Bell was also a well-known educator who taught at a special day school for deaf children, who trained teachers of the deaf, and who additionally created an institution for the study of deafness (also in Washington, DC).
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The prominence Franklin School enjoyed was highlighted in the 1870s when studied in international expositions held in Vienna, Paris, and Philadelphia. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1996.
In 2002, the building was used as a homeless shelter, which controversially closed in September 2008. It was briefly occupied by protesters associated with the Occupy movement on November 19, 2011 In February 2015, Mayor Muriel Bowser cancelled the planned conversion of the school to a public facility for art exhibitions, lectures and educational activities by the Institute for Contemporary Expression. Approved by Bowser's predecessor, Vincent Gray, the project involved a privately funded conversion of the school and had its first event planned for September 2015. As of October 2015, proposals were still being considered.
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