{"nrhp_refnum":"14000063","name":"Highland School","other_names":["Arthur W. Dalrymple School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"36 Grovers Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winthrop","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.38509461600006,"lon":-70.97311858899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2014-03-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Highland School is a brick public school building at 64 Middlesex Avenue in the Highlands area of Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1896-97 for the Town of Reading to designs by architect Horace G. Wadlin.","why_significant":"The form cites the school's role in the residential development of the Reading Highlands, its connection to local architect Horace G. Wadlin, its commanding presence in the neighborhood, and its status as an excellent example of Second Renaissance Revival style. It is described as Reading's architecturally most distinguished school building and meets Criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1896-97 for the Town of Reading at a cost of about $55,000 for land and construction, Highland School sits on a corner plot atop a good-sized hill at 64 Middlesex Avenue. Architect Horace G. Wadlin designed the two-story building on a high basement, with a center pavilion, a porte cochere and flanking blocks. Thin light-yellow brick marks the educational floors, dark-red brick forms the basement, and an egg-and-dart string course divides them. Arched windows, granite keystones and four large chimneys add detail, though towers and turrets were removed in the 1960s. The school served a growing Highlands neighborhood opened up by the 1873 depot and new streets. In 1902 it taught grades 4-8, and the junior high used the first floor from 1915 to 1927. School use ended in 1981. It is valued as Reading's most distinguished school building and as evidence of the importance the town placed on its schools.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Horace G. Wadlin","architectural_style":"Second Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"School use was discontinued in 1981; towers and turrets were removed in the 1960s.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.79239-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/7918/63791899/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002643.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/14000063/604aa30b5d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/14000063/604aa30b5d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WinthropMA_HighlandSchool.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:WinthropMA_HighlandSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791899","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_School_(Winthrop,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16892333"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/highland-school-14000063/"}