{"nrhp_refnum":"11000922","name":"Keith, D.S., Junior High School","other_names":["West Side Junior High School","Keith Hilltop Terrace Apartments"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1318 19th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Altoona","county":"Blair County","state":"PA","lat":40.51941363100008,"lon":-78.40897208799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-12-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, buff-colored brick former public junior high school on a hillside in the West Side of Altoona, Blair County, Pennsylvania, built 1928-1930 and now converted to senior apartments. The building was designed by the Altoona firm Hersh & Shollar in the Classical Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is locally significant under Criterion A for its association with education in Altoona, particularly the 6-3-3 system of education and the broader curriculum of the Long Progressive Era. Its scale and classical design are presented as expressing public investment in education and civic pride. It also serves as a prominent landmark overlooking the city's downtown.","narrative":"Built between 1928 and 1930 as a junior high school for the Altoona School District, this four-story buff brick building sits on a steep hillside in the West Side neighborhood, overlooking the city's downtown. Hersh & Shollar, a locally prominent Altoona firm, designed it in the Classical Revival style, with a steel frame, a granite foundation, stone trim and an E-shaped plan that admitted daylight into its courtyards. The school cost $912,204 to build and opened in September 1930 with a 1,500-seat auditorium, gymnasiums, a cafeteria, a public library branch, and specialized rooms for science, art, music and domestic arts. Its curriculum reflected the broadened, child-centered teaching of the Long Progressive Era. The nomination treats it as a significant example of public school design tied to Altoona's expansion of education. The building closed as a school in 2008 and was converted to senior housing in 2010.","period_of_significance":"1928-1930","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Converted to 53 two-bedroom affordable senior apartments (Keith Hilltop Terrace Apartments), opened January 2010; athletic, cafeteria and auditorium spaces were subdivided and mothballed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:10:27.546586-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/11000922.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000922/e1ebd93aa3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000922/e1ebd93aa3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D.S._Keith_Junior_High_School_Apr_12.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:D.S._Keith_Junior_High_School_Apr_12.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992420","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D.S._Keith_Junior_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137571988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/blair-county/keith-d-s-junior-high-school-11000922/"}