{"nrhp_refnum":"86003319","name":"Powers, Thomas, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Frankford Ave. and Somerset St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.98863317800004,"lon":-75.11955982199999,"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, constructed in 1899-1900 and designed by Anschutz, one of the city's public school architects.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the Powers School is unique among the Philadelphia public schools designed by Anschutz that are included in its thematic group. Most of his early schools are Queen Anne or Gothic and his later ones Classical or Colonial Revival, while this building incorporates Victorian Romanesque elements and Flemish gables that no other school in the group shares. Its polychromy and voussoirs are said to link it to the Victorian Romanesque style popular in Philadelphia before 1900.","narrative":"Built in 1899-1900 as a public school in Philadelphia, the Powers School was designed by the city's school architect Anschutz. Most of his early schools follow the Queen Anne and Gothic styles, and his later schools adopt Classical and Colonial Revival forms. The Powers School departs from that pattern, drawing on the Victorian Romanesque style with polychrome masonry and arched voussoirs that recall Philadelphia building fashions of the 1880s and 1890s. Its Flemish gables are also unusual within the group of Anschutz schools included in the thematic nomination. Because no other school designed by him in the group shares these Victorian Romanesque features or the Flemish gables, the building is regarded as a distinctive example of his work at the turn of the century. Its significance rests on architecture, specifically its design as a Victorian Romanesque school among his otherwise differently styled buildings.","period_of_significance":"1899-1900","architect_builder":"Anschutz (architect)","architectural_style":"Victorian Romanesque","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 17:11:33.253405-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003319.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003319/78923b02ce-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003319/78923b02ce-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Powers_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Powers_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993711","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Powers_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7793248"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/powers-thomas-school-86003319/"}