Withers Building

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Oakland Ave., Rock Hill, SC (York County)

Alternate Name:

Winthrop Training School

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817746014

Description and Narrative:

(Winthrop Training School) The Withers Building on the Winthrop College campus, formerly the main building of the Winthrop Training School, was first built in 1891 as the Presbyterian High School. Its most architecturally significant portion was added in 1912-13 after the design of Edwards and Sayward, architects of Atlanta, and was further enlarged in 1952 with the addition of a gymnasium. The Withers Building is architecturally significant for its fine Gothic Revival design and historically significant for its association with Winthrop College, one of the prime innovators in teaching methods and teacher training in the Southeast. The architects drew inspiration from the fifteenth and sixteenth century Gothic buildings of England, such as Hampton Court Palace and St. John’s College, Cambridge, for the design of the Withers Building. The composition of the building, with four story central tower and end pavilions, as well as the details of the brickwork and of the terracotta ornament, are drawn from these Tudor precedents. The main entrance to the building, with its four-centered arch, and the four octagonal turrets at the corners of the main tower, is embellished with high quality terracotta sculpture. The Withers Building is located on the highest eminence in Rock Hill and was designed to take full advantage of this elevation. The building was renamed for Sarah Withers, alumna and former principal, in 1960. Listed in the National Register August 20, 1981.

Period of Significance:

1913

Level of Significance:

State

Area of Significance:

Architecture;Education

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

August 20 1981

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