{"nrhp_refnum":"86003346","name":"Willard, Francis E., School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Emerald and Orleans Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":39.991699175000065,"lon":-75.11698813199996,"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, named for Francis E. Willard. The form does not state its construction date.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is one of the first fireproof school buildings in Philadelphia, reflecting new construction technology and a 1906 School Board policy requiring fireproof school construction. It is presented as an early example of a method later used widely across the city's public schools.","narrative":"The Willard School is a public school building in Philadelphia, designed by school architect Henry deCoursy Richards while J. Horace Cook served as school superintendent. Cook joined the city's school system in 1887 as an assistant architect, became superintendent in 1906, and held the post until retiring in 1918. The building is significant as one of the first fireproof schools in Philadelphia. In 1906 the School Board, responding to school reform advocates pressing for better safety and health standards, adopted a policy requiring schools to be built of fireproof materials. The Hawthorne School, the first reinforced concrete fireproof school in the city, was followed by the Willard School and others as the new construction methods were adopted. Its importance lies in showing an early use of a method later applied throughout the Philadelphia public school system.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Henry deCoursy Richards (architect), working under the direction of School Superintendent J. Horace Cook","architectural_style":null,"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 17:11:33.483289-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/86003346.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003346/940b9b8085-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003346/940b9b8085-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willard_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willard_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993521","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_E._Willard_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5480819"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/willard-francis-e-school-86003346/"}