{"nrhp_refnum":"100011241","name":"Schenley Farms Historic District (Boundary Increase II)","other_names":["Schenley Farms-Oakland Civic District","ph0699551","0904751622","0"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Approx. intersection of Bigelow Blvd and N. Dithridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":null,"lon":null,"geom_source":null},"listed_date":"2025-01-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Landscape Architecture","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, combining a residential enclave of revival-style houses with a civic and institutional core. The district was conceived by developer F. F. Nicola beginning in 1905 on an approximately 170-acre tract.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the district blends urban and suburban qualities in a planned development, with a City Beautiful civic center and a residential area of high architectural quality. It describes the district as a significant example of early twentieth-century architecture and planning, and notes its underground utilities and landscape design as notable features.","narrative":"Schenley Farms is a planned district in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh, laid out from 1905 by developer F. F. Nicola on a former pastoral tract that had been leased rather than sold by the Schenley family. Its residential portion holds houses by prominent local architects in revival styles, terraced along streets named for British and American literary figures. A wide boulevard, Bigelow Boulevard, separates these houses from a group of civic and cultural buildings, including the Carnegie Institute, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall, and the Cathedral of Learning of the University of Pittsburgh. The district is regarded as a significant example of early twentieth-century planning on City Beautiful principles, combining the amenities of a suburb with the cultural life of the city. Its architecture, the work of leading local and national designers, is considered unusually high in quality, and its landscaping and underground utilities are noted as distinctive features.","period_of_significance":"1880-1939","architect_builder":"F.F. Nicola (developer); Henry Hornbostel, Alden and Harlow, and Benno Janssen (among the notable architects)","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts, Classical, Renaissance Revival, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, and other early twentieth-century revival styles","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most of the civic buildings and institutions remain in use; several large vacant lots remain in the district, and development pressure is noted.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.367406-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83002213.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997728","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/schenley-farms-historic-district-boundary-increase-ii-100011241/"}