{"nrhp_refnum":"86003337","name":"Tilden, William J., Junior High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Sixty-sixth St. and Elmwood Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.92142626700007,"lon":-75.23295195499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic Revival style junior high school building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, designed by Irwin T. Catharine, the School Board's Chief Draftsman, in 1927.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an outstanding, large example of Gothic style school design by Catharine, comparable to his Olney High School. It places the building within the early twentieth-century shift in Philadelphia school design toward lighter classical and Gothic styles, and presents its Gothic features as a symbol of high standards.","narrative":"Gothic style junior high school in Philadelphia, designed in 1927 by Irwin T. Catharine, the School Board's Chief Draftsman. The building is constructed of rich tones of brick and limestone and features numerous arched windows, Gothic tracery, door and window surrounds, and crenellated battlemented parapets. Its design follows the tradition set by earlier School Board architects J. Horace Cook and H. deCoursey Richards, continuing a period when Philadelphia public schools adopted Gothic design to suggest the high standards and opportunities of public education, a link to Ivy League institutions. The school is regarded as an outstanding and large example of Catharine's Gothic schools and compares favorably with his Olney High School. Its significance lies in architecture, as a well-executed example of the Gothic school type in the city's public building program of the period.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":["C"],"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 17:11:32.449842-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003337.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003337/430633edb6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003337/430633edb6-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tilden_Jr_HS_2.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tilden_Jr_HS_2.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993601","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_T._Tilden_Middle_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8013353"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/tilden-william-j-junior-high-school-86003337/"}