{"nrhp_refnum":"07000860","name":"Roberts School","other_names":["Little Red Schoolhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"320 Union St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Holbrook","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.15515095500007,"lon":-71.02320738699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-08-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1½-story, front-gabled wood-frame one-room schoolhouse at 320 Union Street in Holbrook, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, built in 1873 by local carpenter Morrison M. Alden.","why_significant":"It was the first public school built by Holbrook after the town's incorporation in 1872 and is a fine example of a one-room schoolhouse. It is the best preserved of only two extant 19th-century schools in town and remains on its original site. Its history reflects the town's growth and economic ups and downs for more than 100 years.","narrative":"Built in 1873 on Union Street in Holbrook, Massachusetts, this small clapboard schoolhouse was the first public school constructed by the town after it separated from Randolph in 1872. Local carpenter Morrison M. Alden supplied the materials and built it, and the land was donated by the family of Rev. Joseph Roberts. The 1½-story building has a granite foundation, a front-gable roof, Italianate-style details and two front entries originally used by boys and girls. Inside, a single classroom retains its blackboards and horizontal flushboard dado. The school closed in 1893, reopened in 1895, closed again in 1938, and returned to use in 1953 as a kindergarten during the postwar population boom, finally closing in 1979. The Holbrook Historical Society acquired it in 1980, painted it red, and uses it for archives, exhibits and local history lessons. It is listed for its role in local education and as a well-preserved one-room school.","period_of_significance":"1873-1957","architect_builder":"Morrison M. Alden (builder)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used by the Holbrook Historical Society as an archive, exhibition and meeting space, and as a classroom for local history lessons for third graders.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.075687-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/32/7964/63796432/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/07000860.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000860/6fa2d31b8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000860/6fa2d31b8f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roberts_School,_Holbrook_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roberts_School,_Holbrook_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796432","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberts_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7352043"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/roberts-school-07000860/"}