{"nrhp_refnum":"86002508","name":"English High School","other_names":["Cobbett Junior High School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Essex and James Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynn","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.47685352600007,"lon":-70.94398753801639,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"English High School (later Cobbet Junior High School) is a T-shaped masonry school complex at Essex and James Streets in Lynn, Massachusetts. It combines three buildings from 1892, 1916-1920 and 1924, designed by Wheeler and Northend (1892) and George A. Cornet (1924).","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be significant for architecture because it shows a shift from Classical and Romanesque school design toward factory-inspired forms suited to vocational education. It is also significant for education, as Lynn's first and longest-running vocational school, serving the working class of a leading shoe-manufacturing city.","narrative":"English High School in Lynn, Massachusetts, is a T-shaped brick and masonry complex at Essex and James Streets that joins three buildings from different periods. The oldest is the Romanesque Revival James Street wing of 1892, designed by Wheeler and Northend. A 1920 rear addition and a 1924 front block in Collegiate Gothic style, designed by George A. Cornet after a fire, complete the group. The plain, factory-like industrial wing was likely meant to mimic the workplaces students would enter. The school opened as the New Lynn High School, housing both classical and English programs, and became exclusively vocational in 1911. Lynn was then the country's leading shoe-manufacturing city, and English High grew into its largest school and its first and longest-running vocational school. It served as Cobbet Junior High School from 1932 until the city closed it in 1980. The complex was listed for its architecture, which reflects changing ideas about vocational education, and for its long educational role. It is now vacant, with badly vandalized interiors.","period_of_significance":"1892-1927","architect_builder":"Wheeler and Northend, 1892; George A. Cornet, 1924; others, unknown","architectural_style":"Collegiate Gothic (Jacobean/Tudor Revival) front section of 1924; Romanesque Revival James Street wing of 1892; plain factory-like industrial wing","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant; the city closed the facility in 1980. Interiors have been badly vandalized and window sash on the James Street wing is in generally poor condition.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.343663-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/7948/63794864/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86002508.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002508/39a0d848e9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002508/39a0d848e9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LynnMA_OldEnglishHighSchoolBuilding.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:LynnMA_OldEnglishHighSchoolBuilding.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794864","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_High_School_(1892_building)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28453548"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/english-high-school-86002508/"}