{"nrhp_refnum":"80000621","name":"Downing Street School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"92 Downing St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.26300190200004,"lon":-71.82512359999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick grammar school building at 92 Downing Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built in 1891 to designs by W. R. Forbush for the City of Worcester.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as an unusual example of Romanesque Revival architecture. It closely resembles the Abbott Street Schoolhouse, also designed by William R. Forbush. Its distinctive features include a semi-circular stairhall bay flanked by arched entries.","narrative":"Downing Street Schoolhouse, at 92 Downing Street in Worcester, was built in 1891 as a grammar school for the City of Worcester and was still used as a school when it was recorded in 1978. Designed by architect William R. Forbush and built by W. F. Dearborn at a cost of about $35,000, it is a brick building with a rectangular main body and a projecting central section. At the center is a semi-circular, tower-like bay containing the stairhall, flanked by two arched entries topped with tri-partite arched windows. Yellow brick trim and eyebrow dormers on the south side of the roof add detail. The building is considered an unusual example of Romanesque Revival design and resembles the Abbott Street Schoolhouse, also by Forbush. Little is known about Forbush, who appears as an architect in the 1886 directory only, though later building notices suggest he practiced in Boston. The building is recorded as unaltered and never moved.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect W. R. Forbush (William R. Forbush); built by W. F. Dearborn","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as present use school; owned by the City of Worcester; recorded as unaltered and not moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.300427-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/5/7930/63793005/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000621.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000621/057e15403f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000621/057e15403f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"TM","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TrainaCenter.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TM</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:TrainaCenter.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793005","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downing_Street_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5303206"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/downing-street-school-80000621/"}