{"nrhp_refnum":"86003329","name":"Smith, Walter George, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1300 S. Fourteenth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.93468171400008,"lon":-75.17588001299998,"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, designed in the Academic Gothic style and built in 1924-25 as the Walter George Smith School.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an exceptionally intact example of the design work of Irwin T. Catharine, a Board of Education architect. It is said to show no flaws, understatements or over-embellishment, with balanced use of red brick, limestone, windows and doors. It is compared favorably with Catharine's Olney High School, and the nomination treats it as an excellent example of his Gothic public school designs.","narrative":"Built in 1924-25 in Philadelphia, the Walter George Smith School is a red brick and limestone public school designed in the Academic Gothic manner by Irwin T. Catharine. Catharine graduated from the Drexel Institute's architectural program in 1903 and was hired by the Board of Education as an assistant designer soon after. He became Head Draftsman by 1919 and Superintendent of Buildings in 1930. The school is regarded as an exceptionally intact example of his work. Its pointed-arch window and door elements, along with its brick and limestone colour and texture, combine into a balanced composition with no over-embellished detailing. Its intricate ornament is comparable to that of Catharine's Olney High School, which is one of his best Gothic designs, though the Smith School is smaller in scale. Its significance rests on its architecture as an excellent example of Catharine's Gothic public school buildings.","period_of_significance":"1924-1925","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Academic Gothic","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 17:11:33.630965-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003329.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003329/a23aab87a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003329/a23aab87a4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Smith_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Smith_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993474","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_George_Smith_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7964934"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/smith-walter-george-school-86003329/"}