{"nrhp_refnum":"86002715","name":"Washington Vocational School","other_names":["Washington Vocational Education Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"169 Fortieth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.46952796000005,"lon":-79.96291551799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vocational school building at 341 South Bellefield Avenue in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville district, built in stages from 1908 with additions in 1930 and 1937. It is a multi-part brick school complex on a hemmed-in site with its primary entry opening from an alley.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school was one of the city's first facilities for vocational training and was built under the ward-based school board system. It is said to reflect the working-class heritage of its neighborhood. The 1937 wing was a Public Works Administration project designed by the Board of Public Education's staff architect and is said to serve the same vocational purpose for which the school is significant.","narrative":"Washington Vocational School occupies a constrained lot in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood, with its main entry opening from an alley. The complex grew in three parts: an orange brick building of 1908 on a raised basement, designed by Charles W. Bier; a one-story gabled shop building of 1930 with factory-type small-pane windows; and a four-story wing of 1937 with terrazzo hallway floors and a stone-surrounded entry. The 1937 wing was a Public Works Administration project designed by Marion M. Steen, the Board of Public Education's staff architect, in a subdued Art Deco manner, and received $211,689 in federal funding. The school began as the Seventh Ward Industrial School and merged with the Arsenal Trade School for Boys in 1930. Its shops included automobile, welding, machine, cabinet, and electric workshops. It is regarded as one of the city's first vocational training facilities and reflects the ward-based school system and the working-class character of its neighborhood.","period_of_significance":"1901-1940","architect_builder":"Charles W. Bier (architect of the 1908 building); Marion M. Steen (staff architect, 1937 wing)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian; Art Deco","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Good condition","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.648562-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002715.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002715/f07bc14108-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002715/f07bc14108-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Eli Pousson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Education_Center.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:Washington_Education_Center.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/71992184","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Education_Center_(Pittsburgh)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7972517"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/washington-vocational-school-86002715/"}