{"nrhp_refnum":"86002717","name":"Wightman School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5604 Solway St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.442621588000065,"lon":-79.92677578199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Wightman School is a three-story brick Pittsburgh public school on a raised stone basement, on a mid-block site at 5604 Solway Street in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County. It opened in 1897 as part of the Colfax Sub-district.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the school as a representative work of Ulysses J. L. Peoples, a Pittsburgh school architect, and notes its distinctive rising-and-falling cornice that gives the impression of a tall central section with lower wings. Its interior features, including a monumental central stair, cast iron balustrades and an elaborate plaster stage surround in the third-floor gymnasium/auditorium, are described as typical of Peoples' work. The school was listed as part of a thematic group of Pittsburgh Public Schools.","narrative":"Brick school at 5604 Solway Street in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, opened in 1897 as part of the Colfax Sub-district and named for Thomas E. Wightman, a local citizen. Designed by Ulysses J. L. Peoples, it stands three stories on a raised stone basement. Its most distinctive exterior feature is a heavy wood cornice that rises above the third story over the central pavilion and side entries, giving the building a tall central section with lower flanking wings. The interior includes a monumental central stair with cast iron balustrades and newel posts, stained glass transoms, and a third-floor gymnasium and auditorium with an elaborate plaster stage surround. The school was closed in 1980 and sold to a community organization in 1981, and it is now used as a community center. It was listed for its architecture and its association with Peoples' school designs in Pittsburgh.","period_of_significance":"1881-1900","architect_builder":"U.J.L. Peoples","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival; Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed in 1980 and sold to a community organization in 1981; now used as a 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 17:11:34.552459-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002717.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002717/b3c1aad153-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002717/b3c1aad153-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Lee Paxton","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WightmanSchool.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:WightmanSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992150","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wightman_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6673699"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/wightman-school-86002717/"}