{"nrhp_refnum":"09001156","name":"McGuffey, William H., Primary School","other_names":["McGuffy Art Center","Dhr # 104-0072-0300"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"201 2nd St. N.W.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Charlottesville","county":"Charlottesville","state":"VA","lat":38.03428061400007,"lon":-78.48190436299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Colonial Revival primary school with a full basement at 201 2nd Street N.W. in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, built in 1915-1916. It was designed with Superintendent James G. Johnson and now serves as the McGuffey Art Center.","why_significant":"The school was conceived by Superintendent James G. Johnson using Progressive Era ideas of school design, with a heating, ventilation and natural-light scheme that was scientifically calculated. It brought several small primary schools and the primary grades of Midway School under one roof. It set the standard for architectural quality and educational excellence for the city's later schools, and is the least altered of its contemporaries.","narrative":"Built in 1915-1916, this two-story brick school with a full basement sits on a sloping lawn one block north of Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. Its Colonial Revival design has three pavilions, a slate hipped roof, cast stone details and Tuscan porticos on the front and sides. Superintendent James G. Johnson conceived the building after studying hundreds of school plans, and R. E. Lee Taylor of Furguson, Calrow and Taylor drew the plans with him. Voters approved the bond for construction by more than two to one in 1915. The school gathered several small private-house primary schools and the primary grades of Midway School under one roof, with room for up to eight hundred pupils. Carrie C. Burnley, the city's first female principal, led it from 1916 to 1945. The building is regarded as the least altered of its contemporaries, both inside and out. It now serves as the McGuffey Art Center, with artists' studios in former classrooms and basement rooms.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"R. E. Lee Taylor of Furguson, Calrow and Taylor drew the plans with Superintendent James G. Johnson; Charles Calrow, a Norfolk architect, designed later alterations","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Now used as the McGuffey Art Center, a museum and arts facility with artists' studios in the former school spaces.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.509458-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/6801/41680117/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/09001156.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001156/97fe44a8b4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09001156/97fe44a8b4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nickmorgan2","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:William_McGuffey_School.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Nickmorgan2</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:William_McGuffey_School.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"82004904","name":"Charlottesville and Albemarle County Courthouse Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/charlottesville-and-albemarle-county-courthouse-historic-district-82004904/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680117","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGuffey_Art_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16894933"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/charlottesville/mcguffey-william-h-primary-school-09001156/"}