{"nrhp_refnum":"86003325","name":"Read, Thomas Buchanan, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Seventy-eighth and Buist Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.90661877800005,"lon":-75.24787725399995,"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 elementary school building at 78th and Buist Avenue in the southwestern part of Philadelphia, near the Delaware County line. It was built in 1908 and designed by Henry deCoursey Richards, Chief Draftsman for the Philadelphia School Board.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is a handsome, intact example of a domestic-scale Georgian Revival school. Richards mostly designed large Colonial and Classical Revival schools, so this smaller building is distinctive. It is one of only two domestic-scale public schools of this style in the thematic group, the other being Olney Elementary School.","narrative":"Built in 1908 at 78th and Buist Avenue in far southwestern Philadelphia, close to the Delaware County line, the Thomas Buchanan Read School is a two-storey building in the Georgian Revival style at domestic scale. Henry deCoursey Richards, chief draftsman for the Philadelphia School Board from 1906 to 1916, designed it. Richards produced many large Colonial and Classical Revival schools across the city, but the Board rarely asked him for a building this small. The site was remote at the time, yet a 1910 Board map showed District 1 as one of the largest outlying districts, with many students spread across the area. The school opened with 282 pupils in grades one through seven and grew to 577 by 1920, close to its capacity of 576. Its scale and style make it one of only two domestic-scale public schools of this type in the thematic group, which is the basis for its listing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Henry deCoursey Richards (architect/chief draftsman, Philadelphia School Board)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival","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 17:11:32.314425-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003325.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003325/a22e84279a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003325/a22e84279a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TB_Read_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TB_Read_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993597","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Buchanan_Read_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7788000"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/read-thomas-buchanan-school-86003325/"}