{"nrhp_refnum":"79002976","name":"Old Hidalgo School","other_names":["Teacherage"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Flora and 4th Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hidalgo","county":"Hidalgo County","state":"TX","lat":26.098613831000023,"lon":-98.25962414999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-10-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story painted brick former school building, later a teachers' hostel (Teacherage), at Flora Street and 4th Street in Hidalgo, Hidalgo County, Texas, built in 1915.","why_significant":"It is the oldest remaining school house in Hidalgo and served as both school and meeting house before the Hidalgo Independent School District existed. Its vernacular design, especially the large brick finials at the roof corners, makes it a local landmark. It is also significant in the development of the town's educational system.","narrative":"Built in 1915 on the old school block at Flora and 4th Streets in Hidalgo, this one-story painted brick building began as a two-room school with a moveable partition. The partition allowed the space to be opened for meetings and dances, so it served as both school house and community meeting place before Hidalgo had its own independent school district. Its hip roof is carried on eleven squared brick columns across the north front, and four large faceted brick finials rise about six feet above the roof corners. When a new two-story school was built nearby in 1925, this building became a teachers' hostel known as the Teacherage, and the porches were enclosed and a kitchen and bath added. It is the oldest remaining school house in the town, and its distinctive vernacular brickwork has made it a landmark in this small border community. It is now used for storage.","period_of_significance":"1915","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Hidalgo Independent School District; listed as occupied, with present use given as storage. The adjacent 1915 school building is described as vacant.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:18.815728-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/9725/40972573/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/79002976.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002976/4b9168d0ec-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002976/4b9168d0ec-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Hidalgo_School_Hidalgo_Texas_2021.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Hidalgo_School_Hidalgo_Texas_2021.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972573","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q107318999"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/hidalgo-county/old-hidalgo-school-79002976/"}