{"nrhp_refnum":"84002828","name":"South School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9-11 Gerry St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stoneham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.47526693400005,"lon":-71.10016163699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Italianate schoolhouse at 9-11 Gerry Street in Stoneham, Massachusetts, built in 1857-58 by the Town of Stoneham; the architect is unknown.","why_significant":"It is Stoneham's best preserved mid-19th century schoolhouse and keeps its original form, bracketed cornice, overhanging eaves and gable returns. It reflects the town's municipal response to rapid population growth in the 1850s. It is also one of the earliest surviving two-story, multi-room schools in the Boston area.","narrative":"Built in 1857-58 at 9-11 Gerry Street, South School is a two-story Italianate schoolhouse that the Town of Stoneham erected during a period of fast growth. The wood-frame building rises from a granite foundation to a broad gable roof and has a rectangular plan, a five-bay facade and a central entry. It originally held four classrooms, two on each floor. Its bracketed cornice, overhanging eaves and gable returns survive from the original design. Later changes include a pair of large central chimneys around 1890, a Colonial Revival porch around 1910, and shingle siding and shutters around 1960. The school was listed because it is Stoneham's best preserved mid-19th century school and because it illustrates the town's response to a population that doubled between 1840 and 1850. Three new four-room schools and an almshouse were built in the 1850s. The building is also one of the earliest surviving two-story, multi-room schools in the Boston area, replacing the one- and two-room schools common before 1850.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used as a school into the 20th century and probably converted to residential use around 1960; the form lists the present use as Dorcas Center.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.628971-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/7920/63792060/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002828.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002828/837dc343e2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002828/837dc343e2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StonehamMA_SouthSchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StonehamMA_SouthSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792060","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_School_(Stoneham,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7568387"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/south-school-84002828/"}