{"nrhp_refnum":"86002681","name":"Lemington Elementary School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7060 Lemington Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.471059883000066,"lon":-80.01444177999997,"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":"Lemington Elementary School is a three-story H-shaped school building of buff brick at 7060 Lemington Avenue in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, built in 1937. It is ornamented with polychrome terra cotta in an Art Deco style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is exceptionally significant within the context of the city's third era of public school building, between 1935 and 1954, when the Pittsburgh School Board employed an in-house architectural staff. Its polychrome terra cotta ornament, including a frieze of heads representing the races of man and Mayan-inspired motifs, is described as unique in the city. It is associated with architecture and education.","narrative":"Built in 1937 at 7060 Lemington Avenue in Pittsburgh, this three-story H-shaped school of buff brick was designed by the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education's staff architect, Marion M. Steen, and built partly with federal Public Works Project funds. It was planned for 840 students. Its most distinctive feature is polychrome terra cotta ornament modeled on Mayan temples, including a cornice frieze of sixty-four stylized heads representing five races, and large panels above the gymnasium and auditorium entrances. The terra cotta was manufactured and installed by the Conkling-Armstrong Terra Cotta Company of Philadelphia. Steen designed sixteen school buildings between 1935 and 1942, and this one is regarded as his most exuberant. The interior is comparatively plain apart from the auditorium-cafeteria ceiling, which shows the sun and its rays. The building is valued for its architecture and its role in the city's school building program.","period_of_significance":"1937","architect_builder":"Marion M. Steen (architect); Navarro Corporation (contractor)","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":[],"status_note":"Good condition, with very few alterations","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.151613-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002681.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002681/177bc81ca9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002681/177bc81ca9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LemingtonElementarySchool.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:LemingtonElementarySchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992156","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemington_Elementary_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6521160"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/lemington-elementary-school-86002681/"}