{"nrhp_refnum":"83000655","name":"Connell, William M., School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"650 Plymouth Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.702426253000056,"lon":-71.15579725099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick grammar school at 650 Plymouth Avenue, Fall River, Massachusetts, built in 1893 to designs by local architect Joseph M. Darling.","why_significant":"It is a well-detailed, largely unaltered example of a sturdy late 19th century brick schoolhouse, with a distinctive Romanesque Revival design. It is one of two nearly identical schools Darling designed in the early 1890s, the other being the Davol School. It is named for Superintendent William M. Connell, who urged the free textbook policy adopted in Fall River in 1874.","narrative":"Built in 1893 at 650 Plymouth Avenue in Fall River, this two-story brick grammar school was designed by local architect Joseph M. Darling. It has eight classrooms, four on each floor, and a symmetrical Romanesque Revival design. Its most notable feature is a square four-level center tower with a Syrian arched entrance and an open belfry. Brownstone sill and lintel courses, a slate hipped roof, a bracketed cornice and corbelled brick chimneys remain largely intact, and an early iron fence with granite posts surrounds the lot. The school was named for William M. Connell, superintendent of schools from 1872 to 1894, whose urging led Fall River to provide free textbooks in 1874, about ten years before state law required it. The same plan was used for the Davol School on Flint Street, a practical choice during a period of rapid school construction driven by the textile economy's growth. The school is recognized for its architecture and its local educational history.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Joseph M. Darling","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as present use: school, owned by the City of Fall River; details such as the roof, cornice, chimneys and iron fence are described as largely intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.331639-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/27/7894/63789427/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000655.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000655/2aaaf882e8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000655/2aaaf882e8-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Connell_School_FR.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Connell_School_FR.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789427","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Connell_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8014859"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/connell-william-m-school-83000655/"}