{"nrhp_refnum":"86003269","name":"Darrah, Lydia, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"708--732 N. Seventeenth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.96821392500004,"lon":-75.16566123599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The Lydia Darrah School is a school building at Seventeenth and Folsom Streets in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1926 under the Philadelphia School Board's Department of Building.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an important example of the design work of Irwin T. Catharine, School Building Superintendent, whose tenure marked a turning point in Philadelphia public school design. It was the prototype for Building Type No. 146, an elementary school with a roof-top recreation area, and the design was repeated with variations, including at Spring Garden School. It is presented as a prototype Moderne design.","narrative":"Built in 1926 at Seventeenth and Folsom Streets in Philadelphia's Fairmount section, the Lydia Darrah School was designed under Irwin T. Catharine, who served first as head draftsman and later as Superintendent of School Buildings for the city's School Board. His tenure brought new architectural styles into the city's school designs, and Moderne influence along with greater attention to detail and ornamentation distinguished buildings from his period from earlier schools. The Board had created a Department of Building to design and supervise all new school construction, and its Office of the Architect often produced prototype designs repeated with slight variations. The Darrah School was designated Building Type No. 146 and served as the prototype for an elementary school with a roof-top recreation area. The same design was repeated several times, most notably at the Spring Garden School of 1927 at 12th and Ogden Streets. It is regarded as an important prototype of Moderne school design by Catharine.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (School Building Superintendent, Office of the Architect)","architectural_style":"Moderne","criteria":[],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:34.394801-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003269.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003269/59d72bf57a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003269/59d72bf57a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lydia_Darrah_School.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lydia_Darrah_School.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"02000066","name":"Fairmount Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/pennsylvania/fairmount-avenue-historic-district-02000066/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993675","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lydia_Darrah_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6707607"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/darrah-lydia-school-86003269/"}