The Thurber School was constructed in 1910 as a public school for the community of Spanish Fork, Utah County. The building is locally significant under Criterion A in the Area of Education, as it was a major school that served the community from 1910 to 1973, which is also the period of significance. The Thurber School was erected at a time of rapid change in Utah’s education system. It was one of the first free public schools opened in Spanish Fork after the Free Public School Act of 1890 was passed and Utah became a state. The Thurber School provided necessary classroom space for a growing school population and established community support for both education and the expansion of the academic industry in Spanish Fork. The new schoolhouse represents the challenges overcome by advocates of free and public education over the previous fifty years and the emergence of a new education system throughout the state. Thurber School is also locally significant under Criterion C in the Area of Architecture. The building is characteristic of the eclectic architectural styles that were popular at the time for schools regionally and nationwide. The primarily Romanesque Revival-style building, with Mission Revival-style elements, was designed by Provo architect Taliesin T. Davies. Davies was known for his residential designs throughout Utah County as well as the White Rock Schoolhouse in Elsinore, Sevier County and the Uintah Stake Tabernacle in Vernal, Uintah County. The combination of the large, prominent building and the only known example of late-Victorian Romanesque-style architecture in the city made the school a landmark of Spanish Fork City. It also stands as the only remaining schoolhouse from this time period in Spanish Fork. In 1985 the building underwent an adaptive reuse project to serve as the Spanish Fork city offices, maintaining its role as a public building. The Thurber School is now one of the oldest extant buildings along the Main Street corridor that has retained its original appearance.
