{"nrhp_refnum":"09000647","name":"Tarklin School","other_names":["School No. 4","Sunnyside","Tar Kiln School","Twin Schools","Tarkiln Youth Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"245 Summer St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Duxbury","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.03558765100004,"lon":-70.74040288561741,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-08-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story, wood-frame, clapboarded schoolhouse at 245 Summer Street in the Tarkiln neighborhood of Duxbury, Massachusetts. It began as a one-room school built in 1871 and was expanded in 1908, 1926 and 1951 into a U-shaped building.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the school as a physical reminder of the educational reform and social change that followed the Civil War, even in isolated Massachusetts hamlets. It also records the town's long delay and resistance to replacing the old schoolhouse, and the building's later use as a community center. The building is little altered from its period of significance and retains many original interior features.","narrative":"Tarkiln School is a single-story clapboarded schoolhouse on a 5.75-acre lot at a rural crossroads in western Duxbury, Massachusetts. Its oldest part, a one-room school with Greek Revival form and Italianate window brackets, was built in 1871 after years of town debate over replacing the earlier schoolhouse. A close copy was added to the north in 1908, a connecting hallway followed in 1926, and a kitchen wing in 1951. Inside, chestnut wainscoting, pressed tin ceilings and seven-panel doors survive. The school later served as a community center, and the grounds hold ball fields, tennis courts and a small memorial park. The building is owned by the town and is described as in generally good condition but currently not in use. It was listed because it reflects the post-Civil War push to improve public education, even in small rural neighborhoods, and because it remains only slightly altered from its period of significance, 1871 to 1959.","period_of_significance":"1871-1959","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival; Late Victorian: Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Duxbury, generally in good condition and only slightly altered; listed as vacant/not in use in the current-function entry.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.226839-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/7965/63796596/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/09000647.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000647/8ae2113574-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000647/8ae2113574-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"RT Carpenter","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_1871_South_Hall_of_the_Tarkiln_Historic_Twin_Schoolhouses_at_Sunset,_Fall_2013.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">RT Carpenter</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:The_1871_South_Hall_of_the_Tarkiln_Historic_Twin_Schoolhouses_at_Sunset,_Fall_2013.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796596","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarkiln_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16934015"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/tarklin-school-09000647/"}