{"nrhp_refnum":"86002651","name":"Bedford School","other_names":["Birmingham School No. 1"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"910--918 Bingham St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.429220730000054,"lon":-79.98923446299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Bedford School is a three-story Greek Revival former school building at 910-918 Bingham Street in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. It was opened in 1850 as Birmingham School #1.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an exceptionally intact example of an early educational facility in Pittsburgh and the only extant pre-Civil War school in the city. Its interior retains 1912-vintage spaces largely intact, and it was built with separate stairways and entries reflecting strict sex segregation in education of the era.","narrative":"Built in 1850 as Birmingham School #1, this three-story Greek Revival brick building on Bingham Street in Pittsburgh's Allegheny County was later renamed Bedford School after Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, a surgeon at Fort Pitt who donated the land. Its gable roof has wooden Classical pediments at each end, with brick dentils along the pediments and cornice. The building is regarded as the only surviving pre-Civil War school in Pittsburgh. Its interior has kept much of its 1912 layout, when partitions created smaller classrooms and central halls were added. Early classrooms were arranged without a central gathering space, and the building had no plumbing or electricity until 1912. Its two separate stairways and entries are believed to have kept boys and girls apart, reflecting the segregated schooling of the period. The school was closed as an elementary school in 1958 and sold for commercial use in 1960.","period_of_significance":"1841-1860","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Sold by the Board of Education in 1960 for commercial use; the form describes it as a former school.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.889601-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002651.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002651/39a7959337-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002651/39a7959337-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Schneider22","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford_School,_Pittsburgh_(exterior).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Schneider22</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:Bedford_School,_Pittsburgh_(exterior).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992194","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bedford_School_(Pittsburgh,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4879194"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/bedford-school-86002651/"}