{"nrhp_refnum":"07000880","name":"Turtle Creek High School","other_names":["Union High School","Woodland Hills East Junior High School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"126 Monroeville Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Turtle Creek","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.40519590700006,"lon":-79.82374687899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-08-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The former Turtle Creek High School, originally Union High School, at 126 Monroeville Avenue in the Borough of Turtle Creek, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a three-story Classical Revival school building of about 118,000 square feet with a 1938-1939 rear addition.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant under Criterion C for its architectural merit as a Classical Revival design following the City Beautiful movement and the popular school-building formula of the early twentieth century. It is presented as a landmark and urban centerpiece of the borough, and its later alterations are said not to diminish its integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1917-1918 to a design by Pittsburgh architect George Henry Schwan, the former Turtle Creek High School is a three-story school of cream-colored brick with stone and terracotta trim on a site in the borough of Turtle Creek, Allegheny County. The Classical Revival front is arranged in three horizontal zones with a central pavilion, a double-story Ionic portico set in antis, and a projecting cornice with scroll and palmetto ornament. Dawson Construction Company built the original section. The school was enlarged in 1938-1939 with a rear addition that more than doubled its floor area and carried simplified Art Deco details. The building is regarded as a major example of the Beaux-Arts school formula and as the centerpiece of the borough, with a large landscaped lawn that was among the largest green spaces in Turtle Creek. It was originally named Union High School after three merged districts, and it served students from several neighboring communities until enrollment declined later in the twentieth century.","period_of_significance":"1917-1939","architect_builder":"Schwan, George Henry (architect); Dawson Construction Company (builder); Hunter & Caldwell (1938-9 addition)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Renovated in 1976-1977 and now used as Woodland Hills East Junior High School.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.466821-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/07000880.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000880/24f4acbc7a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000880/24f4acbc7a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TurtleCreekHighSchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TurtleCreekHighSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998394","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodland_Hills_Academy_(Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7856395"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/turtle-creek-high-school-07000880/"}