{"nrhp_refnum":"80002646","name":"Public School 39","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"417 6th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.66866150000004,"lon":-73.98342637899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Public School 39, also known as the Henry Bristow School, is a three-story brick school building at 417 Sixth Avenue (corner of Eighth Street) in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn, New York. It was built in 1876-77 and is attributed to Samuel B. Leonard.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the school as a distinctive example of public school architecture that blends Italianate and French Second Empire features. It has been used as a school since it opened in 1877 and serves as a link to the early history of public education in Brooklyn. It has also been a neighborhood institution in southern Park Slope for a century.","narrative":"Public School 39, also called the Henry Bristow School, is a three-story brick schoolhouse at Sixth Avenue and Eighth Street in Brooklyn's Park Slope. Built in 1876-77 and attributed to Samuel B. Leonard, then Superintendent of Buildings for the Board of Education, it combines Italianate and French Second Empire styles. Notable features include a projecting central tower with a Venetian window, stone trim contrasting with the brick, steep slate mansard roofs with iron crestings, and a bold bracketed cornice. It was modeled on Public School 37, built a year earlier. Inside, each floor was originally divided into two spaces that rolling doors could split into three classrooms; these doors were removed in 1963 to meet fire codes. The school grew out of earlier Gowanus-area schooling and was named in 1916 for local civic leader Henry Bristow. It has operated as a school continuously since opening in 1877, reflecting the development of public education in Brooklyn.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific dates 1876-77)","architect_builder":"Attributed to Samuel B. Leonard","architectural_style":"Transitional Italianate and French Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as an educational building; condition listed as good, unaltered original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.115025-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002646.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002646/fe33b1e87b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002646/fe33b1e87b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Herr Engel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PS_39.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Herr Engel</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PS_39.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318495","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_School_39","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7257553"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/public-school-39-80002646/"}