{"nrhp_refnum":"10000041","name":"Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys","other_names":["Saint Joseph's High School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"760 Merrimack St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.65104093000008,"lon":-71.32062875499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 4½-story Romanesque Revival school building at 760 Merrimack Street in the Acre neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts, completed in 1892 and designed by Patrick W. Ford. It served as a parochial boys' school, later known as Saint Joseph's High School.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it meets Criterion A as a parochial school built to serve Lowell's growing French-Canadian immigrant population in the late 19th century. It meets Criterion C as a well-preserved Romanesque Revival school. It is also one of the few historic structures to survive the urban renewal of the Acre in the 1950s and 1960s.","narrative":"Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic College for Boys, at 760 Merrimack Street in Lowell, is a large Romanesque Revival school completed in 1892. It rises 4½ stories in brick over a rusticated granite first floor, with a slate hip roof and a copper-and-wood cupola. Plans are attributed to Patrick W. Ford. The building sits in the Acre, in the section known as Little Canada, which French-Canadian immigrants settled. It was built as an expansion of parochial education under the parish of Saint Jean-Baptiste. Inside, a central corridor with beadboard wainscoting serves 18 former classrooms on the upper floors, and the below-grade first floor holds the original cafeteria and a gymnasium with its wood floor. Windows have been replaced with aluminum sash. The school is described as one of the few historic structures to survive urban renewal in the Acre during the 1950s and 1960s. It was recognized for its role in educating the immigrant community and for its architecture, with a period of significance of 1892 to 1960.","period_of_significance":"1892-1960","architect_builder":"Patrick W. Ford","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant, though the entrance carries a Catholic Charities Food Pantry sign.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.689766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7961/63796144/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/10000041.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000041/a5f0677922-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000041/a5f0677922-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowellMA_SaintJosephsRomanCatholicCollegeForBoys.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowellMA_SaintJosephsRomanCatholicCollegeForBoys.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"76001972","name":"Lowell Locks and Canals Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/lowell-locks-and-canals-historic-district-76001972/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph%27s_Roman_Catholic_College_for_Boys","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900577"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/saint-josephs-roman-catholic-college-for-boys-10000041/"}