{"nrhp_refnum":"88001907","name":"Newton Street School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"99 Mohawk Trail (formerly Shelburne Rd.)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Greenfield","county":"Franklin County","state":"MA","lat":42.58580011600006,"lon":-72.61422707591002,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-10-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story Renaissance Revival brick elementary school on a six-acre site along Shelburne Road and Route 2A (the Mohawk Trail) at the western end of Greenfield, Massachusetts, built in 1915 and designed by H.L. McClean (spelled McLean elsewhere in the form).","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school reflects Greenfield's greatest period of social and economic growth, when the town backed an unusual single-story, ground-level school design that had no precedent in western Massachusetts. It is also cited as a well-composed example of Renaissance Revival styling with precast artificial stone detailing, uncommon in a county where public buildings were mostly Classical Revival.","narrative":"Newton Street School is a one-story brick elementary school built in 1915 on a six-acre site at the western edge of Greenfield, Massachusetts, near the Green River and the Mohawk Trail. Architect H.L. McClean arranged seven classrooms in a U-shaped band around a large central playroom and auditorium that also served community meetings and dances. Its Renaissance Revival character comes from artificial stone quoins, garlanded brackets, carved rafter tails and stone books set in the gable ends. The school was built when Greenfield's industries and immigrant population were growing quickly. Rejecting the two-story model used for the town's other new schools, it sat on grade beside a playground and allowed faster exit in a fire. Similar designs did not spread locally for years. After closing as a school in 1968, it became a teen center, and the original exterior remains largely intact. Plans call for an addition and reopening as a school.","period_of_significance":"1915","architect_builder":"H.L. McClean","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Used since the 1970s as a teen center after the School Committee closed it as a school in 1968; funds have been appropriated for an addition to reopen it as a neighborhood school for 300 students.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.144865-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7951/63795123/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/88001907.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001907/026cc8c394-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88001907/026cc8c394-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GreenfieldMA_NewtonStreetSchool.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GreenfieldMA_NewtonStreetSchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795123","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Street_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7020381"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/franklin-county/newton-street-school-88001907/"}