1912 Center (Former Moscow High School and Moscow Community Center)
Moscow, Latah County

Location: 400 East 3rd Street, Moscow, Idaho 83843

Towards the end of the 19th Century, saw the advent of the Progressive School Era, a time of social activism and political reform, where kids across the country were encouraged to obtain education regardless of gender or social status. This represented a major change from a traditional view that school was reserved for the upper class.

In 1892, Moscow’s public high school enrollment stood at 7. By 1897 it had grown to 72. The original high school building was pushed past capacity and the city decided to invest in its future. In 1911 a bond was easily passed to start construction on a new high school building, which is now the 1912 Center.

Spokane based architect Clarence Hubbell was selected to design the building. The 30,000 ft, 3 story building was constructed in the classical style of architecture with red brick and white terra cotta that was quite unusual for the area. With the large new space, the high school could now offer agricultural courses, commercial studies, courses in manual and domestic sciences, physical education, physics, botany, and chemistry. The gymnasium was on the ground floor (now the 1912 Center’s plaza level), with offices, classrooms, laboratories and auditoriums on the other three floors. The top floor included the larger auditorium, which could seat 520 persons.

The building was used as the high school, then the junior high, and finally the Moscow School District administration offices and storage. Throughout the latter half of the 20th century the building became a storage catchall and showed much wear and tear due to lack of preservation and basic upkeep.

The city purchased the building in the 1990s and with generous private donations, the first stage of renovation was completed in 2001. In 2007, the city transferred building management to the nonprofit Heart of the Arts Inc., who work to continue renovations, restorations, and general building use and maintenance. The 1912 Center now hosts a variety of community programs and private events including the Winter Market, senior lunches, weddings, concerts, memorials, lectures, movement classes, drag shows, plays, recitals, and more. The 1912 Center truly is the “gem” of Moscow, Idaho.