This history of Denny School is taken from the second edition of Building for Learning: Seattle Public School Histories, which includes histories of every school building used by the district since its formation around 1862. The original essay was written for the 2002 first edition by Nile Thompson and Carolyn J. Marr, and updated for the 2024 edition by HistoryLink contributor Rita Cipalla.
Bell Town
In the late 1870s, the Bell Town community consisted of 20 to 25 homes near the waterfront north of downtown Seattle. In 1876, the Seattle School District purchased two lots from William Bell for what would become the first school north of Pine Street. The Bell Town School was occasionally referred to as the North School after the original North School at 3rd and Pine closed in 1883.
When the small school was outgrown, a replacement school was built to the east. Denny School, renamed for David T. Denny, a city founder and member of the school board in the 1860s, was an architectural jewel. At the time, the superintendent claimed it to be the finest schoolhouse on the West Coast. Denny School opened to elementary students in 1884. A high school department that was established in October 1886 was abandoned a few months later. After the Central II fire in 1888, Seattle High School and a 1st grade class were temporarily housed at Denny. An 1891 addition expanded the school to 20 classrooms. In 1897, a terrific windstorm broke 17 of the school’s windows. A decade later, when Denny School filled to capacity, an annex was opened at 4th and Battery for 1st graders. Known as Denny Annex, it operated with four classrooms during 1901-2903.
Denny School was demolished in 1928 when the hill on which it stood was leveled to complete the Denny Regrade. The site was sold and the bell tower was placed in Denny Park.
History
Bell Town School
Location: NW corner of 3rd Avenue & Vine Street
Building: 2-room, 1-story wood
Architect: n.a.
Site: n.a.
1876: Opened on September 24
1884: Site & building sold on May 13; closed in June
n.a.: Building remodeled for a residence
n.a.: Remodeled into an apartment/rooming house called Eleanor Rooms
n.a.: Demolished by Metropolitan Printing Co.
Denny School
Location: Battery Street between 5th & 6th Avenues
Building: 2-story wood
Architect: Stephen J. Meany
Site: 1.34 acres
1884: Named on July 19; opened
1891: Addition (John Parkinson)
1906: Partial demolition due to Denny Regrade project
1928: Closed in spring and building demolished for completion of regrade; bell tower preserved in Denny Park; site sold
