{"nrhp_refnum":"05000515","name":"Bear Grass School","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"6344 E. Bear Grass Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bear Grass","county":"Martin County","state":"NC","lat":35.76748090150008,"lon":-77.12695413795073,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-06-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A school campus district in the town of Bear Grass, Martin County, North Carolina, centered on a 1925 one-story brick Colonial Revival school designed by architect Eric Flanagan, with later school buildings, a teacherage and two statues.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the 1925 school as a fine example of North Carolina school architecture from the 1920s consolidation era. The campus also shows how the community expanded its school over time through the 1927 additions, a 1935 teacherage, a WPA-built gymnasium, and a 1948 cafeteria and high school building. Community support, including donated timber and civic club involvement, is part of the story.","narrative":"Bear Grass School is a campus of school buildings in the small Martin County, North Carolina, town of Bear Grass. Its core is a one-story, U-plan brick school built in 1925 in a subdued Colonial Revival style, after the earlier frame school burned in 1924. Architect Eric Flanagan drew the plans, and the building included an auditorium, a library, classrooms and central heating. Two classrooms were added in 1927. Over the following decades the community added a 1935 teacherage for teachers' housing, a 1942 gymnasium built with Works Progress Administration help and donated timber, a 1948 brick cafeteria and high school building, a 1951 scout hut, and a 1955 Modernist gymnasium and principal's house. Later additions include a 1980 music and agriculture building and two cement statues by local sculptor Henry Cowin. The district was listed because it illustrates 1920s school design and the long local effort to support and expand the school, which still serves the community and sits in a rural setting.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Eric Flanagan, architect (Henderson); J. W. Hudson Jr. of Tarboro, general contractor for the 1925 school","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival; Other: Modern Movement","criteria":[],"status_note":"The school campus remains in use as a school; the old gymnasium serves as a weight room and art studio, the former teacherage is used as a community meeting hall, and the scout hut is used for storage.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:54.618481-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7212/47721217/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/05000515.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721217","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Grass_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19460416"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/martin-county/bear-grass-school-05000515/"}