{"nrhp_refnum":"06000045","name":"Hood Octagonal School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3500 West Chester Pike, Newtown Square","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newtown Township","county":"Delaware County","state":"PA","lat":39.98614683000005,"lon":-75.38913467099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-02-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone octagonal one-room schoolhouse on a rise along present-day Pennsylvania Route 3 at the east end of Newtown Square, in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1841 to replace an earlier log Hood School on the same family-associated land.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant under Criterion A for its association with the common school stage of Newtown Township's educational history, and under Criterion C as an excellent example of the octagon mode of construction, which it describes as once popular but now uncommon. It is presented as the only surviving example of the township's earliest schoolhouses. The building was restored in 1964 under the direction of architect Richard A. Yarnall.","narrative":"Built of stone in 1841 on a rise at the eastern end of Newtown Square, Newtown Township, the Hood Octagonal School is an eight-sided one-room schoolhouse. It replaced an earlier log Hood School on land conveyed by Isaiah Fawkes to the township school directors, under a deed that returned the lot to the adjoining farm if school use ended. The building operated as a common school until about 1865, when the district abandoned it, and it later served as farm storage. The nomination regards it as the only surviving example of the township's seven earliest schoolhouses, which span roughly 1748 to 1865. Its eight-sided plan is cited as a rare surviving example of the octagon mode, a once common form of construction. Restoration in 1964 was carried out under architect Richard A. Yarnall, whose work on the nearby Dunwoody Home is cited as the reason he was commissioned.","period_of_significance":"1841-c. 1865","architect_builder":"Yarnall, Richard Ashbridge (1964 restoration)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Octagon Mode","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant after the school district abandoned it around 1865; later used as farm storage, then restored in 1964 and retained as part of the Dunwoody Village property.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.575657-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/06000045.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000045/b27ae4b7d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06000045/b27ae4b7d5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OctagonalSchool.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia.</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OctagonalSchool.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996769","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hood_Octagonal_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5897486"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/delaware-county/hood-octagonal-school-06000045/"}