{"nrhp_refnum":"09000897","name":"East Waterford School","other_names":["East Waterford School District 156"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. N. Dickson Mounds Rd. and the E. Prairie Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lewistown","county":"Fulton County","state":"IL","lat":40.35006991250006,"lon":-90.11537351722549,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-11-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story, front-gabled, brick-veneered frame one-room schoolhouse at the intersection of N. Dickson Mounds Road and East Prairie Road near Lewistown, Fulton County, Illinois, built in the early twentieth century.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved example of a vernacular one-room schoolhouse. It has decorative brick detail, including rock-faced brick at the water table and arched openings, and framing typical of its era. The school also reflects the history of rural public education in Fulton County.","narrative":"East Waterford School is a one-room schoolhouse on the western slope of the Illinois River Valley, near Lewistown in Fulton County, Illinois. It is a small, front-gabled, one-story building of red hard-pressed brick veneer over a balloon frame. A classroom of about 28 by 26 feet occupies the main block, and a small east vestibule holds a cloakroom and basement stairs. Although the design is vernacular, it includes decorative touches: rock-faced brick forms the water table and surrounds the arched door and window openings. The school served District 156 and was altered around 1917 when a bank of six windows replaced three on the south wall. A brick porch was added later and removed in 1987-1988. The State acquired the half-acre lot in the early 1960s, and Dickson Mounds Museum now maintains it and uses it for educational programs. It was listed for its architecture as a representative one-room schoolhouse, with a storm shelter and several concrete pads on the grounds.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other: one-room schoolhouse (vernacular design)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Now used as a museum exhibition hall and maintained by Dickson Mounds Museum, which uses it for educational programming; the State acquired the property in the early 1960s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.274252-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/8928/28892874/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/09000897.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000897/cddcc6c64e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000897/cddcc6c64e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Waterford_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Waterford_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892874","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Waterford_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22034001"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/fulton-county/east-waterford-school-09000897/"}