{"nrhp_refnum":"85000316","name":"Bigelow School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"350 W. 4th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35220915700006,"lon":-71.04734579399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-02-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story Classical Revival public school building at 350 West Fourth Street in South Boston, Boston, designed by City Architect Charles J. Bateman and built in 1901 on the site of an 1850 school.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is one of the most representative examples of a Classical Revival school and a representative work of Charles J. Bateman, a noted Boston architect who served as City Architect. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials and workmanship. It also reflects Boston school design principles of functional planning and stylistic simplicity.","narrative":"Bigelow School, at the corner of West Fourth and E Streets in South Boston, is a four-story Classical Revival public school completed around 1901 to designs by City Architect Charles J. Bateman. Built of tan brick with Warsaw bluestone trim, it forms a symmetrical block of nine bays by twelve, with a rusticated first floor, quoins, balustraded paired windows and a pedimented central entrance on Fourth Street. The plan is a stunted U, with classrooms off a central lobby and an assembly hall on the fourth floor. A school has occupied the site since 1850, when a girls' school named for Mayor John P. Bigelow was built; it was razed in 1899. A 1901 account praised the new building for its seventeen classrooms, gymnasium, library and modern heating and ventilation. It was listed as an exemplary Classical Revival school and as a representative work of Bateman. The school closed in 1976, and rehabilitation into housing was planned.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Charles J. Bateman","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The school closed in 1976 and is listed as a vacant school; it was planned to be rehabilitated into housing.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.470753-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7966/63796676/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85000316.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000316/7f15efb440-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000316/7f15efb440-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bigelow_School_South_Boston_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Bigelow_School_South_Boston_MA_01.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"04000959","name":"Fort Point Channel Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/fort-point-channel-historic-district-04000959/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796676","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_School_(Boston,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4906816"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/bigelow-school-85000316/"}