{"nrhp_refnum":"02001645","name":"Nelliston School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Stone Arabia St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Nelliston","county":"Montgomery County","state":"NY","lat":42.93566535000008,"lon":-74.61327985399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-12-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick public school building on Stone Arabia Street in the village of Nelliston, Montgomery County, New York, built in 1868-1869 by local contractors James Pealer and Christian Marsh.","why_significant":"The school is significant for education and architecture as a substantially intact example of late nineteenth century public school design in Nelliston. It served the community as a multi-grade school until 1971 and also functioned as a civic and social gathering place. It is described as a rare surviving example of a transitional, multi-grade school building of its period.","narrative":"Built in 1868-1869 on a village lot bought from Abram Nellis, this two-story brick school sits near the center of Nelliston, Montgomery County. Local contractors James Pealer and Christian Marsh built it with red brick laid in common bond, a rubble stone foundation faced with limestone, and a shallow gabled roof. The design was plain and functional, with no ornament. Around 1900 movable wainscoted partitions divided each floor into four classrooms, and larger bands of windows were added to the side walls early in the twentieth century for better light and ventilation. It replaced an earlier wood frame schoolhouse and typically enrolled about 100 pupils with four teachers. The building also hosted Sunday school classes from 1877, and its bell once served as the village fire alarm. After the district consolidated with Fort Plain in 1962, the school stayed in declining use until 1971, when it was sold. Original classroom layout, wood floors, doors, chalkboards and light fixtures survive. In 2002 voters approved acquiring it for village offices.","period_of_significance":"1869--ca. 1920","architect_builder":"James Pealer, Christian Marsh (builders)","architectural_style":"Late 19th Century Revivals/Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed function is vacant/not in use; the school left educational use in 1971, and a 2002 public referendum approved acquiring it for conversion to village offices and a public meeting space.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.868556-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02001645.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319030","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelliston_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6990192"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/montgomery-county/nelliston-school-02001645/"}