{"nrhp_refnum":"86002956","name":"Fifth Avenue High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1800 Fifth Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pittsburgh","county":"Allegheny County","state":"PA","lat":40.437978015000056,"lon":-79.98108587299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-10-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-and-a-half-story Victorian Gothic school building with a raised basement at 1800 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, built in 1894 according to its datestone.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant as the second high school in Pittsburgh and for its Victorian Gothic design, which it describes as unique in the city. It was the first Pittsburgh high school with a cafeteria (1913), reportedly the first fireproof school in Pennsylvania, and the first city school to host an evening adult education program (1907). The areas of significance are given as architecture and education.","narrative":"Fifth Avenue High School at 1800 Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh is a three-and-a-half-story Victorian Gothic school with a raised basement, built in 1894 to designs by Edward Stotz, who was twenty-six and took it as his first major commission. Its brick walls, crocketed gables, pointed-arch doorways and stone-banded third story reflect the formal, institutional character of late nineteenth-century school design. Built more than twenty years after Central High, it was the city's second high school and drew students from across Pittsburgh rather than a single ward. It is significant for its architecture and its role in education. The school was the first in the city with a cafeteria (1913), reportedly the first fireproof school in Pennsylvania, and the first city school to host an evening adult education program, starting in 1907. A limestone Classical annex was added to the south in 1926, joined by a bridge. Stotz went on to complete 903 commissions. The school closed in 1976 when Brashear High School opened in the South Hills, and later owners began a privately financed renovation.","period_of_significance":"1881-1900","architect_builder":"Edward Stotz (architect)","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Closed in 1976 after the Brashear High School opened; sold by the city in 1981; a privately financed renovation was under way at the time of the survey.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.588219-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86002956.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002956/b3f03fe962-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002956/b3f03fe962-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Cbaile19","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fifth_Avenue_High_School,_Uptown,_2022-07-31,_02.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cbaile19</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fifth_Avenue_High_School,_Uptown,_2022-07-31,_02.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71992180","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth_Avenue_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5447467"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/allegheny-county/fifth-avenue-high-school-86002956/"}