{"nrhp_refnum":"86002698","name":"Oliver, David P., High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Brighton Rd. and Island Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.463989562500046,"lon":-80.02538798261689,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"David P. Oliver High School is a two-story school building on a fourteen-acre site in Pittsburgh's upper North Side, between Brighton Road and Island Avenue, in Allegheny County. It was built in two sections, in 1924 and 1928, and was designed by the firm of James T. Steen & Sons.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is important in Pittsburgh public school architecture as one of the first prototypical Art Deco schools, and an early trend-setting example of Art Deco design among Pittsburgh public schools. Its differentiated and balanced auditorium and gymnasium wings are presented as an early instance of a feature later used in Steen's Art Deco schools. It is also associated with education in Pittsburgh, as it was named for David B. Oliver, first president of the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education.","narrative":"Built in 1924 and extended in 1928, Oliver High School occupies a fourteen-acre site on Brighton Road and Island Avenue in Pittsburgh's upper North Side. Its classroom wings are two stories above a raised basement, with pilasters dividing the window bays and a central entry surround of stepped-up Art Deco massing. Auditorium and gymnasium wings project outward at each end, giving the facade the arc-like shape that defines the building. Carved stone panels of beasts and faces provide some ornament, and the library is lit by a tall front window wall with octagonal stained glass skylights. The school was designed by James T. Steen & Sons and is regarded as one of the earliest Pittsburgh schools to use balanced auditorium and gymnasium wings, a feature later common in Art Deco school designs. It was named for David B. Oliver, first president of the Pittsburgh Board of Public Education.","period_of_significance":"1921-1940","architect_builder":"James T. Steen & Sons (architects/builders)","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Good condition; integrity rated fair; an addition with a fieldhouse and lighted field was built after World War II and major additions were under construction at the time of the survey.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.51281-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002698.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002698/74918499e5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002698/74918499e5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:DavidOliverHighSchool.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:DavidOliverHighSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992116","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7087598"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/oliver-david-p-high-school-86002698/"}