The march of time has finally caught up with one of Tucson's older educational institutions, the Mary J. Platt school, which workmen are demolishing today.
Long condemned and declared unsafe, the second floor of the building has not been used for the past five years, while the first floor, until the close of the last school term, had been used only for the Mansfeld Junior High School hot lunch program.
Located on East Seventh Street just behind Mansfeld, the Mary J. Platt School was started in 1911 by the Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church to provide Christian training for Mexican girls.
The movement for such an establishment originally started in Tucson in 1905, when a Miss Horton, representative of the Woman's Home Missionary Society, was sent here from the east.
The first establishment was located on South Seventh Avenue and later was moved to East 10th Street and, finally, to the present site where it operated as the Mary J. Platt school until it was disbanded in 1928 and later sold to the city school system.
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The structure was built in 1911 under the supervision of Mrs. L. G. Harris, who was also superintendent of the school. It was named in honor of the wife of Ward Platt of Pennsylvania, who provided funds for its construction.
Aimed at developing and educating Mexican girls, it was the only school of its kind in Arizona. The school program included not only the usual school curriculum, but, in addition, courses in good housekeeping and citizenship.
During its peak years, the school housed between 40 and 50 girls.
The Tucson public school system bought the Mary J. Platt building and its five acres of ground for approximately $12,500. The school system, however, only made use of the first floor for its hot lunch program. The second floor was used for storage and also contained an apartment occupied by Mrs. Anne Prince, who at one time was in charge of the school lunch program.
When the second floor was condemned five years ago, she moved down to the first floor where she continued as caretaker of the building.
Contract for demolition of the condemned building was let to the Dave Feldman Supply & Salvage Co., and the school board had approved the cost of $4,385 for the job.
As a result of the demolition of the building, students at Mansfeld will have no hot lunch program next fall, according to Robert D. Morrow, superintendent of the public school system.
For the present, Morrow said, the area will be used for school recreational purposes. There is the possibility of a future building program at the site, Morrow said, depending on the need.
The program would call for construction of a building containing a school lunch room, band, shower and locker rooms in addition to shops, including general, crafts and woodworking, Morrow said.
This story was originally published in the Tucson Daily Citizen on July 17, 1953.
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