Architecture of ERHS

“Dick” Whittington, Eagle Rock Junior High School, USC Digital Library, California Historical Society

Founded in September, 1927, the school you’re probably reading this article in has been around for a while. Of course, the buildings, bungalows, and landscaping used to be quite different. “Eagle Rock Jr/Sr High School” has gone through several changes, both extreme and miniature in its 98 years open. 

The original buildings used to be in a beautiful Mission Revival style which emerged in America and Europe in the 1890s to 1940s and sort of mimicked the style of Californian Spanish Missions. This architectural style was actually used a lot in Los Angeles around the time the school was built. In fact, the Catholic Church, St. Dominic, is also in this Spanish style. Sadly, it was discovered that most of the buildings on campus were not up to modern earthquake codes so all of the buildings except for the auditorium were destroyed and replaced with a more modern “brutalist” style over the course of a few years. According to the online website "Architectural Digest”,  the brutalist style emerged after World War II around the 1950’s. This bold architectural style is based around the idea that architecture should be “brutally honest”; and is meant to be functional, honest and raw. It is thought that the word brutalist came from the French word ‘beton brut,’ which basically means raw concrete. There are many conflicting opinions on the idea of this style. Some people love it and believe it can be used for large buildings and residential areas as a type of modernization of old looks. Others have the opposite view and believe it’s an ugly addition to architectural design that did nothing but create ugly blocks of concrete where beautiful buildings could have been created. Personally, I believe that when done correctly, this style can be functional and at least somewhat tasteful. Our school’s design, however, probably could have been done a bit better just to improve the overall appearance. 

“Dick” Whittington, Eagle Rock Junior High School, photograph, USC Digital Library, California Historical Society,

Along with the new style choices, there was also a new gym added. “The New Boys’ Gym”, now known as the South gym was the first permanent modernized building built on the campus. This building was constructed along with some new parking lots which probably helped a lot with teachers getting to and from school. The architect in charge of this project was Louis A. Thomas, but sadly, there is pretty much nothing about him anywhere on the internet.  

The student population began growing around the 1970s, so temporary bungalows were built until they could figure out what to do space wise. These buildings ended up staying however, and the re-styling of the campus continued. Next, they constructed another, smaller gym, now known as the North gym and re-designed a bit of the auditorium to keep it up to code and modern. 

The last few stages of re-construction included adding the main building that we know today with most of the administrative offices and such. They also completed construction on the second large building, connecting the two with a bridge that we can see today. The construction also ended up completing the cafeteria and shaded area right outside of it. Finally, much more recently, Pinner Construction re-did and modernized the auditorium and South gym. I couldn’t find any start or finish dates for the construction but I do know that it was in progress at least in January of 2020. This project included HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) modernization, and new lockers, flooring, bleachers and seating. 

In conclusion, ERHS has gone through a lot of changes in its 98 years running but despite the remodeling, temporary bungalows turning into a permanent fixture, and tons of postponed construction. The school has remained somewhat physically working and still is home to some of the most amazing teachers, students, and staff members in Los Angeles.