{"nrhp_refnum":"86003305","name":"Meade, George, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1801 Oxford St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.97830636700007,"lon":-75.16474870399998,"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":"A public school building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known as the George G. Meade School. The form identifies it as one of three near-identical schools by Irwin T. Catharine, Superintendent of Buildings for the Philadelphia School Board.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is an outstanding example of the Moderne style and the work of Irwin T. Catharine, described as a highly important Philadelphia public school architect. It is said to show the shift from boxy Art Deco designs to the more streamlined Moderne mode, with its entrance decorated with symbolic figures.","narrative":"Designed by Irwin T. Catharine, Superintendent of Buildings for the Philadelphia School Board, the George G. Meade School is a public school building in Philadelphia. It was constructed as part of a group of three schools that also included the Robert Fulton School and the George Washington School, and it marked the close of Catharine's career before his retirement in 1937. The building is a Moderne design that reflects a change from the boxy Art Deco style to a more streamlined form. Its entrance is decorated with symbolic figures representing the path to knowledge and learning. The nomination regards the school as an outstanding example of the Moderne style. Its size, scale, materials and restrained detailing are cited as evidence of this quality. Catharine's school designs are described as unsurpassed by other architects working for the School Board in the early twentieth century, including J. Horace Cook and his chief draftsman Henry deCoursey Richards. After his retirement, the office of Superintendent fell into dormancy and school construction in the city dropped sharply.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (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 17:11:34.503116-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003305.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003305/6a7a01862e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003305/6a7a01862e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meade_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Meade_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993679","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Meade_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5542377"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/meade-george-school-86003305/"}