{"nrhp_refnum":"76000276","name":"Red Brick School","other_names":["Centre School District Schoolhouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2 Lincoln St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Franklin","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.09286690500005,"lon":-71.39944493399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-01-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, one-room painted red brick schoolhouse at 2 Lincoln Street in Franklin, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, built in 1833 for the Centre School District (also called the Meetinghouse School District, District No. 1).","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the building has been virtually unaltered since 1833 and has been in continuous use as a school ever since. Residents regard it as a symbol of Franklin's commitment to public education and of Horace Mann, who was born in the town. The community twice acted to keep it open, after a 1959 safety closure and a 1970 recommendation to phase it out.","narrative":"Built in 1833 at 2 Lincoln Street in Franklin, Massachusetts, this one-story, one-room schoolhouse was erected for the Centre School District after a 22 to 8 vote of district residents. A building committee specified brick construction, 36 by 30 feet, with a square roof and eleven windows. The painted red brick walls sit on a cut granite foundation, with original granite steps and an old mudscraper still in place. Changes have been modest: toilets moved from the basement to an adjacent structure, a coal furnace later converted to oil, and a window turned into a door for fire exits. The state closed the school as unsafe in May 1959, but the town funded repairs and reopened it that September. In 1970 residents again voted against phasing it out. Shade trees on the lawn honor former pupils, the largest dedicated to Horace Mann, born in Franklin in 1796. The school has served continuously as a school since its construction.","period_of_significance":"1833","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Franklin and occupied; still used for education, housing a kindergarten class at the time of listing. Structural repairs were made after the 1959 closure.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.594706-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/7964/63796430/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000276.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000276/f47b3d1104-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000276/f47b3d1104-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Frank O. Branzetti for","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Brick_School_Franklin_ma.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frank O. Branzetti for</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_Brick_School_Franklin_ma.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796430","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Brick_School_(Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7303789"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/red-brick-school-76000276/"}