{"nrhp_refnum":"85003416","name":"Johnson School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"School St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Adams","county":"Berkshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.705013586000064,"lon":-73.11836995499993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Romanesque Revival neighborhood school on School Street in North Adams, Massachusetts, built in 1896 and designed by local architect Edwin Thayer Barlow.","why_significant":"It is described as the last surviving neighborhood school in North Adams and reflects the city's rapid late 19th century growth. It is also a well-preserved, finely detailed example of Romanesque Revival design by a well-known local architect, and it retains integrity of setting, design, materials and workmanship.","narrative":"Built in 1896 on School Street in North Adams, Johnson School is a brick Romanesque Revival schoolhouse on a hill overlooking the central business district. It was designed by Edwin Thayer Barlow, described as the city's preeminent late 19th century architect. The building rests on an ashlar granite foundation with a red sandstone water table and has a hipped metal roof, pedimented wall dormers and a round-arched entrance of red sandstone and terracotta. Inside, original oak woodwork, metal ceilings and a third-floor assembly hall with a stage and maple flooring survive. A 1924 addition by Springfield architect Newton C. Bond used similar materials. The school opened for grades three through nine to serve the growing Houghtonville neighborhood, home to mill workers' families. By 1900 it was one of 14 neighborhood schools in the city, and it is the last of them still standing. It was listed for its architecture and its link to the city's late 19th century growth, though falling population raised doubts about its future.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Edwin Thayer Barlow (architect); 1924 addition designed by Newton C. Bond of Springfield","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a grade school in 1985, though a declining population put the building's future in doubt.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.586801-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/61/7892/63789261/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85003416.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003416/764f588cb7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003416/764f588cb7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Dmadeo cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 04:08, 4 July 2012 (UTC)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Johnson-school-north-adams-2009_crop.png\" rel=\"noopener\">Dmadeo cropped by Beyond My Ken (talk) 04:08, 4 July 2012 (UTC)</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:Johnson-school-north-adams-2009_crop.png"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789261","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnson_School_(North_Adams,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6268411"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/berkshire-county/johnson-school-85003416/"}