This history of E. C. Hughes 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 Tom G. Heuser.
West Hill School
The history of Hughes originates in a temporary school called the West Hill School that opened in 1913 at the corner of 35th Avenue SW and W Webster Street. The original West Hill portable housed a split 1st-2nd grade class, while students from older grades went to Gatewood. It served the developing neighborhood of West Hill (later Olympic Heights), a neighborhood of numerous inexpensive homes on view lots. The neighborhood boomed during World War I when many people found jobs at the West Seattle steel mill, lumber mill, and shipyards. By 1918, West Hill had two portables, the second housing a 2nd-3rd grade class.
By 1920, drawbacks with the site prevented further development, and the portables were moved to a larger location at 34th Avenue SW and SW Holden Street, the highest school location in the city at 450 feet above sea level. A third portable was added, along with a new play shed. Enrollment continued to grow. In 1920-1921, the student body grew by a third, and, in 1924-1925, by almost half. The following year the school operated in six portables and for the first time included the 6th grade. Following a decision to build a permanent school, the name was changed to E. C. Hughes School, in honor of an attorney who was president of the Seattle School Board during the construction of Broadway, Lincoln, and Queen Anne high schools.
The 20th Century Georgian-style building, opened in fall 1926, was nearly identical to the Dunlap School built two years earlier. The design allowed for the addition of new units to the south side as needed. During the first seven years, enrollment at Hughes grew from 206 to 452 pupils. In 1934, the school included four portables; by 1936, there were six. In 1938, the 7th and 8th grades were sent to James Madison Junior High. Seven classrooms and a gymnasium were added in 1949 to the south end of the original building, and Hughes students moved out of the portables. Lafayette students, whose school was closed because of earthquake damage in 1949, occupied the available portables for a year until their school reopened in 1950. Population continued to grow, and overcrowding at Hughes led to the construction of Roxhill School to the south in 1955. Even then, enrollment grew so that in 1958 there were 958 students packed into the main building and 12 portables.
In 1970, Hughes was the pilot elementary school for a Career Education Program, which was later adopted throughout the district. It incorporated career awareness into many facets of students’ daily activities and studies. The school paired with High Point and housed grades K, 3-5 in 1980. The following year it shifted to a K, 4-6 configuration. Hughes and High Point were termed the only “walking pair” of schools in the district because their students were never bused out of West Seattle for purposes of the district’s desegregation plan at the time.
In 1983, the district announced that it would cost $2 million to reinforce and otherwise upgrade the Hughes structure. A new school, Hughes/High Point, was proposed for the High Point site, which was the larger of the two. In 1986, the name was tentatively altered to the neutral Emerald City Elementary School, but that name did not stick.
Closed in 1989; Reopened in 2018
A new High Point building was built, and the school reopened in 1988. Hughes stayed open without renovations for another year before it closed as a school in 1989. Hughes was maintained as a closed but essential building for several years until it was needed as an interim site to support future capital construction projects. In January 1998, it became the temporary home for Highland Park students while their school was being replaced. Highland Park students returned to their new school in September 1999. Students from Concord entered Hughes and stayed there until June 2000, when their newly renovated and constructed school building opened.
The building remained vacant until 2010 when the district signed a 10-year lease with the private Westside School. In 2015, after the district decided to relocate students from Roxhill Elementary School, located over one mile south of Hughes, and the City of Seattle designated the building as a historic landmark, the lease with Westside School was terminated. With plans for a historic renovation and refresh prepared by DLR group and funds from a Washington State Distressed Schools Grant and school levy, renovation work was completed in time for students from Roxhill to occupy the building starting in the fall of 2018. Programs at the Roxhill Elementary at E. C. Hughes include a self-contained program for students with autism, a YMCA after-school program, push-in support for students who qualify for special education, bilingual assistants for Spanish and Somali students, and a full-service clinic providing students with physical and mental healthcare.
History
West Hill School
Location: NE corner of 35th Avenue SW & W Webster
Building: 1-room portable
1913: Opened as an annex to Gatewood
1918: Officially named on November 7
1920: Portables moved to permanent site
West Hill School
Location: 34th Avenue SW & (S)W Holden Street
Building: 1-room portable
Site: 2.27 acres
1920: Opened as annex to Gatewood
1925: Renamed E. C. Hughes School on July 24; site expanded to 3.61 acres
1926: Closed in June
E. C. Hughes School
Location: 7740 34th Avenue SW
Building: 9-room, 2-story concrete and brick
Architect: Floyd A. Naramore
Site: 3.61 acres
1926: Opened in September
1949: Addition (Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson)
1989: Closed in June; used for storage
1998: Interim site for Highland Park
2000: Interim site for Concord
2010-15: Leased to Westside School
2015: Designated a City of Seattle landmark
2016-18: Renovated (DLR Group)
2018: School reopened; Roxhill Elementary students relocated to E. C. Hughes
Roxhill Elementary at E. C. Hughes in 2023
Location: 7740 34th Avenue SW
Enrollment: 277
Configuration: K-5
