George Washington High School National Register Nomination

George Washington High School (GWHS) is a large public high school in San Francisco’s Outer Richmond District. Designed by J.R. Miller and Timothy Pflueger, and built between 1935 and 1952 with assistance from the Public Works Administration (PWA), GWHS is designed in a blend of the Streamline Moderne and Hollywood Regency styles. The design also incorporates several references to Mt. Vernon, George Washington’s Virginia estate. The campus is adorned with several notable public artworks commissioned by the Federal Art Project – a New Deal agency.

VerPlanck Historic Preservation Consulting prepared a National Register nomination for GWHS on behalf of the George Washington High School Alumni Association in 2025. The nomination includes a detailed description of the high school, which consists of five buildings: the academic building, the auditorium, the gymnasium, the shop building, and the music wing. The 16-acre campus, which occupies four city blocks, also includes a basketball court, tennis courts, a track and field complex, and a football stadium.

Significant public artworks include Sargent Johnson’s bas-relief frieze: Athletics, Victor Arnautoff’s mural: The Life of George Washington, and Dewey Crumpler’s Response Murals. The draft nomination is currently under review at the California Office of Historic Preservation.