{"nrhp_refnum":"81000109","name":"Durfee, B.M.C., High School","other_names":["Durfee Education Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"289 Rock St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.70556539100005,"lon":-71.15169572599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-06-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-a-half-story granite high school building at 289 Rock Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, occupying a full city block. It was erected in 1886 to designs by Boston architect George A. Clough and built by Norcross Brothers.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school reflects late nineteenth-century Fall River's wealth, civic pride and commitment to educating a rapidly growing population. It is also tied to the prominent Durfee family, who gave the building in memory of Bradford Durfee. It is an important surviving example of Clough's work and of Massachusetts high school construction after the 1848 law.","narrative":"Durfee High School is a granite school building at 289 Rock Street in Fall River, filling an entire city block. Built in 1886 from designs by Boston architect George A. Clough, it has a steep hipped roof, a five-story clock tower, a smaller observatory tower and a central pavilion joined by a stone arcade. Norcross Brothers of Worcester erected it. Mary Brayton Durfee Young gave the school in memory of her son, Bradford Mathew Chaloner Durfee, and endowed it to support instruction in the sciences tied to the city's industries. The nomination presents it as an expression of Fall River's civic pride and its response to a growing population, and as a rare surviving work by Clough, who had designed dozens of schools. It served as a high school until 1978. The exterior is unchanged, and the interior has seen only modest alterations, though limited funds have led to maintenance problems.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"George A. Clough, architect; Norcross Brothers, builders","architectural_style":"Modern renaissance style","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Used as a high school until 1978; the form describes the building as virtually intact, in fair condition, with maintenance problems and recent water pipe damage.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.118977-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/7944/63794498/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/81000109.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000109/2d129b0cf5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000109/2d129b0cf5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BMC_Durfee_High_School.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BMC_Durfee_High_School.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83000677","name":"Highlands Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/highlands-historic-district-83000677/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794498","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.M.C._Durfee_High_School_(1886_building)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4833835"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/durfee-b-m-c-high-school-81000109/"}