{"nrhp_refnum":"83002257","name":"Stevens High School","other_names":["Stevens Elementary School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W. Chestnut and Charlotte Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lancaster","county":"Lancaster County","state":"PA","lat":40.04061507100005,"lon":-76.31273199699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story former high school building on the northeast corner of West Chestnut and Charlotte Streets in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, later used as Stevens Elementary School. It was built between 1904 and 1905 to designs by Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban.","why_significant":"The building is argued to be significant for its architecture, being the best local example of the Second Renaissance Revival style and an important commission in Urban's career. It is also significant for educational history, as the first high school in Lancaster built for girls with facilities equal to those for boys, and for innovative facilities of its time.","narrative":"Built between 1904 and 1905 on the northeast corner of West Chestnut and Charlotte Streets in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, this three-story brownstone and vitrified brick school has a mansard roof of slate and copper trim. Its terra cotta ornament includes a Minerva bust above the main doorway and a central block of monumental pilasters. Architect C. Emlen Urban designed it, and George Gessell built it at a cost of $215,000. Contemporaries considered it the most elaborate school between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Its third-floor auditorium, seating six hundred, has French Renaissance inspired plasterwork and original chandeliers. The school opened in January 1906 as the Girls High School and offered boys' facilities such as a gymnasium, chemical and physical laboratories, and a cooking room. It is regarded as the finest local example of the Second Renaissance Revival style, and it became an elementary school after 1938.","period_of_significance":"1900-1905","architect_builder":"C. Emlen Urban (architect); George Gessell (builder)","architectural_style":"Second Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Functioned as an elementary school after 1938; the document states its elementary school function would end in June 1983.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.9428-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/83002257.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83002257/ad6ebea190-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83002257/ad6ebea190-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thad_Stevens_HS_Fall.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thad_Stevens_HS_Fall.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"01000956","name":"Lancaster City Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/lancaster-city-historic-district-01000956/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996093","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stevens_High_School_(Lancaster,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7615472"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lancaster-county/stevens-high-school-83002257/"}