{"nrhp_refnum":"86002658","name":"Birmingham Public School","other_names":["St. Adalbert's Middle School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"118--128 S. Fifteenth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.42728154500003,"lon":-79.98384069099995,"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":"A three-story brick former public school building on a mid-block site in a dense residential area of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, facing South Fourteenth and South Fifteenth Streets. It was built in 1871 by Birmingham Borough and now serves as a middle school for St. Adalbert's Church.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is Pittsburgh's oldest public school building to maintain an educational function and a textbook example of a modest Italianate school building. Its staircase is described as among the more dramatic in Pittsburgh schools. The significance areas given are education and architecture.","narrative":"Built in 1871 by Birmingham Borough, a community later annexed by Pittsburgh in 1872, this three-story brick school stands on a mid-block site in a dense residential district, with a small open area to the south used as a playground. Its twin gabled east and west sections are joined by a recessed center section with a hipped roof. Stone quoins mark the corners, and the entrances have segmentally arched openings with stone surrounds and overhanging hoods. Paired rounded-arched windows rise on the second and third floors, and a stone beltcourse and wood cornice encircle the building. Inside, a grand central stairhall framed by arched openings supported by decorative consoles leads to a broad, steep staircase with a turned-baluster balustrade. The school closed around 1944 and was sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. It was regarded for its educational role as Pittsburgh's oldest continuously operating public school building and as a representative modest Italianate school.","period_of_significance":"1861-1880","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"The building was closed in circa 1944 and sold to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh; it now serves as a middle school for St. Adalbert's Church.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.85906-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002658.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002658/434e37ad3f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002658/434e37ad3f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BirminghamPublicSchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lee Paxton</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:BirminghamPublicSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992198","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_Public_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4916784"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/birmingham-public-school-86002658/"}