{"nrhp_refnum":"09000140","name":"Waco High School","other_names":["Old Waco High School","Alternative High School","Metropolitan Learning Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"815 Columbus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waco","county":"McLennan County","state":"TX","lat":31.557960508000065,"lon":-97.13797065699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-03-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Waco High School is a three-building public school complex at 815 Columbus Avenue in downtown Waco, Texas, occupying a full city block. The main building was built in 1910-1912 to designs by Milton W. Scott, with additions through 1929, plus a 1924 gymnasium and a 1955 music building.","why_significant":"The complex served as Waco's primary high school from 1912 through 1971 and is argued to be significant under Criterion A for its central role in the city's public education. It is also significant under Criterion C as an excellent example of high style institutional design. The school building is the oldest extant public school building in Waco.","narrative":"Occupying an entire downtown block at 815 Columbus Avenue, the Waco High School complex includes a three-story Classical Revival school building, a Gothic Revival gymnasium, a mid-century modern music building and a flagpole donated by Texas Christian University. Architect Milton W. Scott designed the main building, completed in 1912, with buff brick walls, cast stone detailing and a monumental temple front of four fluted Ionic columns. It grew from a rectangle into an E-plan and then a square plan through additions in 1915, 1921 and 1929. The gymnasium followed in 1924, and Easterwood and Easterwood designed the music building in 1955. The school served as Waco's main high school from 1912 to 1971, first for white students only and then integrated in the late 1960s. It is the oldest surviving public school building in the city. After use as a learning center and alternative school, it has stood vacant, and rehabilitation into apartments is planned.","period_of_significance":"1912-1959","architect_builder":"Scott, Milton W.; Easterwood and Easterwood","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival, Late Gothic Revival; No Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant since the failed early-2000s educational center venture; plans exist to rehabilitate the school and gymnasium as residential rental units, with no new use yet set for the music building.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.102496-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/9730/40973011/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/09000140.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000140/36d661abf0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000140/36d661abf0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waco_high_school_2012.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waco_high_school_2012.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973011","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waco_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7958849"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/mclennan-county/waco-high-school-09000140/"}