{"nrhp_refnum":"73000397","name":"Douglas Flat School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE of Vallecito on SR 4","address_restricted":false,"city":"Douglas Flat","county":"Calaveras County","state":"CA","lat":38.11696572100004,"lon":-120.45411390399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-05-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small wooden schoolhouse in Douglas Flat, Calaveras County, California, built in 1854 by local miners as a meeting hall and church, then moved about a quarter mile in 1856 to a hillside site.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a simple example of Gold Rush era classic revival architecture built by local labor from recollections of Eastern styles. It also reflects the community's development from a mining camp into a settlement of families, with the school serving as school, church, community center and cemetery site.","narrative":"Douglas Flat School is a modest wooden building put up in 1854 by local miners, who needed a meeting hall and church. When families arrived in 1856, it became a school, and the structure was moved about a quarter mile uphill after the original ground proved rich in gold. The new three-acre site also served as a community center and cemetery. An examination in 1971 found European cedar framing and imported lumber, with an addition later lengthening the building by sixteen feet. Its design is classic revival at its simplest: a pedimented gable suggests a temple front, with flat pilasters at the entrance and a small rectangular belfry. Its builders drew on styles remembered from the East and adapted them to frontier construction. Early records show the school site was the only ground closed to mining, and early teachers were given mining rights there. Classes ended in 1956, resumed in 1971 for kindergarten, and a museum use was planned.","period_of_significance":"19th Century; specific dates 1854 (construction), 1856 (moved)","architect_builder":"Built by the miners residing in Douglas Flat","architectural_style":"Simplified classic revival (Greek and Roman revival forms) in Gold Rush vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition marked good. Used as a school until 1956, reopened in 1971 for a kindergarten class after renovation, and planned for transfer to the Douglas Flat Community Club as a museum and community hall.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:32.008196-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/73000397.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000397/a69e375ddd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000397/a69e375ddd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Jeffrey Beall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Douglas_Flat_School.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeffrey Beall</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Douglas_Flat_School.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123858476","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Flat_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14681856"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/calaveras-county/douglas-flat-school-73000397/"}