{"nrhp_refnum":"12000215","name":"Gaston School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"200 School St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gaston","county":"Northampton County","state":"NC","lat":36.496692879500046,"lon":-77.64640599635692,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Gaston School is a one-story, brick-clad, flat-roofed Modernist school campus at 200 School Street in the town of Gaston, Northampton County, North Carolina. It was built in stages from about 1950 to about 1968 and includes a double-height gymnasium with an arched roofline.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant for its role in Northampton County's efforts to expand and modernize public education in the 1950s and 1960s, and as a good, intact example of Modernist institutional architecture in a mostly rural county. It is also linked to the county's school desegregation history, including a 1969 federal court order that required transfers of black students to the school.","narrative":"Gaston School is a one-story brick campus in the town of Gaston, Northampton County, North Carolina, built in stages from about 1950 to about 1968. Its flat roofs, metal awning windows, covered walkways and grassy courtyards reflect the Modernist style that was widely used for North Carolina public schools in the 1950s and 1960s. The original high school building dates to about 1950, and a home economics and auto shop building followed around 1952. The gymnasium was completed in 1955 after Hurricane Hazel knocked down part of it in 1954. Additions were built around 1962 and 1968, with a poured concrete cornice with exposed aggregate unifying the later sections. The school is attributed to Wilmington architect Leslie N. Boney, though his involvement in the earlier sections is not confirmed. Gaston School is regarded as a good, intact example of its type in the county. In 1969 a federal court order required transfers of black students from Gumberry High School to Gaston School, which gives the building a place in local desegregation history.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1950-1962","architect_builder":"Boney, Leslie N., architect","architectural_style":"Modernist","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The school closed as a school around 1990 and was sold to local residents in early 2009, who planned to renovate it as a mixed-use business center.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.628963-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/97/7215/47721597/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/12000215.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000215/55ae63d678-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000215/55ae63d678-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Frank Womble","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaston_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank Womble</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:Gaston_School.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721597","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaston_School_(Gaston,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19461921"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/northampton-county/gaston-school-12000215/"}