Video provided by JROTC class of 2008. 

     South High School held its first classes in 1893 in the two rooms of the old Grant building, which is now the rebuilt Grant Middle School on Washington Street at Mexico Avenue. By 1924, enrollment neared 800, and more space was desperately needed. Funds for a new school were raised, and a corner-stone for the new building — today’s South High —was laid on October 31, 1924 (it’s to the left of the main entrance). During the school’s dedication ceremony, items were placed in the cornerstone: a Bible, an American flag, a copy of the Constitution, a book of South High, signatures of the first students and teachers, and Denver’s city charter. After the corner-stone was sealed, corn, wine, and oil were scattered over the stone, representing nourishment, refreshment, and joy.

     The architectural firm of Fisher & Fisher designed South High, following that decade’s trend toward Romanesque buildings. Intended to last a century, the building cost $1,252,000. Architect Arthur A. Fisher, who favored the use of painting and sculpture in Denver’s public buildings, influenced the use of statues and terracotta figures as adornment for South High.

     Many of the building’s interior and exterior designs were copied from well-known Italian structures; South’s versions were created by artist Robert Garrison. On the rooftop, over the main west entrance, is a three-and-a-half foot-tall gargoyle, the symbolic protector of South, inspired by one on Italy’s Spoleto Cathedral. Saint Ambrogio in Milan, Italy, served as the model for the five arched loggia beneath the gargoyle. Topping the striped poles on either side of the front entrance are figures of faculty members holding creatures representing final exams.

     The creatures are about to devour the students whose heads are resting on piles of books. The two friezes above the main west door are entitled Faculty Row and Animal Spirits. The first, on the exterior of the building, shows the principal in the center of a line of the entire faculty. On his right is the assistant principal, and the now nonexistent dean of girls is on his left. The second frieze, directly above the doors, depicts creatures that symbolize unscholarly behavior such as rubber-band shooting and gum chewing.

     The ornate door frame at the northwest entrance to the school bears a frieze that shows students going to school — some eagerly and others by force. The school’s North Court is guarded by four winged lions, or griffins, which have since been overgrown by vines. South’s notable clock tower is thought to be a replica of Italy’s Santa Maria Cosmedin, although there are some differences. Our clock displays the zodiac around the dial, beginning with Aries at one o’clock and running counterclockwise.

     Of the school’s many examples of Romanesque art, signs of the most prominent may be found in the auditorium and library. The auditorium’s proscenium arch is surrounded by a frieze called Protection of the Tree of Knowledge. It shows teachers guarding the tree from serpents of ignorance so that the children may eat the tree’s fruit. The cornices on both sides of the auditorium have three types of figures on them: angels representing the good students; Grecian lamps, symbolizing the studious; and fantastic creatures, representing fools. In the library, birds represent the various types of students: owls stand for wisdom, roosters for punctuality, penguins for good behavior, and parrots for rote learning or mindless recitation.

In 1992, South High School was designated as a National Historic Landmark.