{"nrhp_refnum":"86001676","name":"Cotton and Maple Streets School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cotton and Maple Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Berks County","state":"PA","lat":40.32839323500008,"lon":-75.91757802699993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-07-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick and brownstone public school building on Cotton and Maple Streets in the ethnic South Reading area of Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, built 1902-03.","why_significant":"The school is argued to be the best preserved of the neighborhood schools designed by architect Hiram S. Head in Reading's early twentieth-century school building program. Its plan, Italianate details combined with Richardsonian Romanesque massing, and consistent design across the system are presented as representing the city's municipal improvements and a strong systemwide identity for its schools. It is also significant for its architecture and its role in education.","narrative":"Built in 1902-03 on a hillside lot in Reading's south side, the Cotton and Maple Streets School is a two-story building of deep orange brick set on a base of quarry-faced brownstone. Architect Hiram S. Head combined Italianate door surrounds and details with the broad, massive forms of Richardsonian Romanesque, using brick and red sandstone. The plan has separate entrances for boys and girls, large dividable classrooms, and a rear service wing holding a double stair with fanlighted windows. Builder George Meinholz constructed it during a period when Reading was making its first major municipal improvements. The school was built as part of a citywide program of neighborhood schools, all sharing a common design vocabulary that gave the system a strong identity. It is regarded as the best preserved survivor of Head's neighborhood school buildings. The building is significant for its architecture and its role in the city's early twentieth-century public education.","period_of_significance":"1902-03","architect_builder":"Hiram S. Head (architect); Geo. Meinholz (builder)","architectural_style":"Italianate details with Richardsonian Romanesque massing","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Altered in its use as a club, but the description states the school remains in nearly original condition; the windows are boarded on the exterior and the basement windows are infilled.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.238679-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86001676.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001676/8c08e57b6b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001676/8c08e57b6b-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cotton_Maple_School_Reading.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cotton_Maple_School_Reading.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997932","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotton_and_Maple_Streets_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5175746"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/berks-county/cotton-and-maple-streets-school-86001676/"}