{"nrhp_refnum":"86002667","name":"Foster School","other_names":["Stephen C. Foster Community Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"286 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.46768717400005,"lon":-79.95857940399998,"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":"Foster School is a three-story brick former elementary school at 286 Main Street in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on a large fenced lot. It was closed in 1939 and sold for use as a community center in 1955.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a vivid example of the schoolhouses built under the ward-based school board system during the late Victorian period. Its central tower, centralized four-room-per-floor plan and large fenced lot are cited as distinctive features, and it is described as an outstanding example of ward-based school designs.","narrative":"Foster School is a three-story brick building in Pittsburgh, set in the center of a spacious lot enclosed by an iron fence. Its plan is a simple square, with a four-story tower projecting from the center of the front facade and three-story, three-sided entry bays on the sides. Tall narrow windows, rock-faced stone basement, dressed stone beltcourses and modillion cornices give it its character. The school was named for Foster ancestors, who had intended the land as a military cemetery; it was later given for school use on condition that this intention be marked by a monument. The school operated as an elementary school under the Washington Sub-district and was closed in 1939. It was sold in 1955 for use as a community center. It is regarded as a clear example of the ward-based school designs built in the late Victorian period, when each ward chose a distinctive school building.","period_of_significance":"1881-1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used as a community center since 1955; the form lists the present use as Foster Community Center.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.286174-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002667.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002667/3a14d173bb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002667/3a14d173bb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Eli Pousson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foster_School,_Lawrenceville.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Eli Pousson</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Foster_School,_Lawrenceville.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100004020","name":"Lawrenceville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/lawrenceville-historic-district-100004020/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992168","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5473744"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/foster-school-86002667/"}