{"nrhp_refnum":"08000407","name":"Williamsville Junior and Senior High School","other_names":["Williamsville South High School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5950 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williamsville","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.96907545100004,"lon":-78.73118475509926,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick junior-senior high school at 5950 Main Street in Williamsville, Town of Amherst, Erie County, New York, designed in 1948 and built 1949-1951 in a modified Colonial Revival style.","why_significant":"The school is cited as significant in the history of education and architecture in the Williamsville area. It is a distinctive example of large institutional secondary schools built in New York State between 1925 and 1950, and one of the last Colonial Revival secondary schools in the state. It also marks the suburbanization of the Buffalo area and the postwar growth of Amherst and Williamsville.","narrative":"Williamsville South High School, originally the Williamsville Junior and Senior High School, sits on the north side of Main Street in the Town of Amherst, Erie County. Designed in 1948 by the Buffalo firm Duane Lyman & Associates and built between 1949 and 1951 by Cowper Construction Company, it is a two-story red brick building in a modern interpretation of Georgian and Colonial Revival design. Its H-shaped plan is centered on a projecting pavilion with a colossal Ionic stone portico and a bell tower. Inside, the original terrazzo floors, tile wainscoting, an Art Moderne auditorium, a gymnasium and a library with original bookcases survive. Additions from 1960-1961 and 1992 are not counted as historic. The school was built after local voters centralized area education in 1947 to serve a fast-growing suburb of Buffalo. It is regarded as a distinctive example of mid-century school design and as a landmark on Williamsville's Main Street, reflecting the area's postwar suburban growth.","period_of_significance":"1949-1951","architect_builder":"Duane S. Lyman & Associates, architect; Cowper Construction Company, builder","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a secondary school (Williamsville South High School); window sash and doors were replaced around 1990, and additions were made in 1960-1961 and 1992.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.626252-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000407.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000407/d256019258-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000407/d256019258-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TonyTheTiger","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20090412_Williamsville_South_High_School.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TonyTheTiger</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20090412_Williamsville_South_High_School.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317741","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsville_South_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8021325"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/williamsville-junior-and-senior-high-school-08000407/"}