{"nrhp_refnum":"12000588","name":"Abilene High School","other_names":["Old Abilene High School, Lincoln Junior High","Lincoln Middle School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1699 S. 1st St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Abilene","county":"Taylor County","state":"TX","lat":32.449991915000055,"lon":-99.74253818599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-08-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Late Gothic Revival high school campus at 1699 South 1st Street in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, begun in 1923 and completed in 1924, designed by architect David S. Castle. The campus has three contributing buildings and three noncontributing resources.","why_significant":"The form argues the school is significant under Criterion A for education and Criterion C for architecture. Its monumental main building showed Abilene's commitment to public education during the rapid growth of the 1920s. The Late Gothic Revival design is locally distinctive and a rare example of the style in west Texas.","narrative":"Abilene High School occupies a block at South 1st and Peach Streets along the historic Bankhead Highway. Construction of the main building began in 1923 and finished in 1924. Architect David S. Castle designed the three-story, sand-colored brick and reinforced concrete building in the Late Gothic Revival style, with a crenelated parapet, carved limestone Gothic arches, and stone lioness grotesques holding shields. Rear wings were added in 1927, 1928, and 1941. The campus also includes the Eagle's Nest gymnasium (1929) and a shop building (1950), both contributing. A 1975 gymnasium, tennis courts, and an HVAC enclosure do not contribute. The school served as Abilene's high school until 1955, then as a junior high and middle school. It was built during a decade when the city's population more than doubled and school enrollment surged. The nomination presents it as a landmark of local education and a rare west Texas example of its style. The campus has been vacant since 2007.","period_of_significance":"1923-1962","architect_builder":"David S. Castle (architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant since 2007 and presently for sale; the interior and exterior have been damaged by repeated break-ins and tagging.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.316359-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/9701/40970110/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/12000588.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000588/b7f0bd916b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000588/b7f0bd916b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AbileneHighSchool1_(1_of_1).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:AbileneHighSchool1_(1_of_1).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970110","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107320240"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/taylor-county/abilene-high-school-12000588/"}