{"nrhp_refnum":"88002271","name":"Finletter, Thomas K., School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6101 N. Front St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.04377341400004,"lon":-75.11918672999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-11-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story yellow brick school building at 6101 N. Front Street, at 21st and Winter Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built 1929-1930 to a design by Irwin T. Catharine using School Board Type Number 144. It is one of six schools built on this model.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is an excellent example of Catharine's 1920s and 1930s Art Deco school designs, with a very high degree of integrity. It is one of a group of six schools built on the same model between 1924 and 1930, and it is nominated as part of the Philadelphia Public Schools Thematic District.","narrative":"Built in 1929-1930 on Front Street in north Philadelphia, the Thomas K. Finletter School is a three-story yellow brick building on a raised basement, designed by Irwin T. Catharine. Its central entrance has an arched opening with terra cotta trim and clustered pilasters, and the stair towers project from the facade. A diapered brick panel and a terra cotta cornice add further decoration. The school was built from School Board Type Number 144, the model Catharine first used for the Clara Barton School in 1924-1925. The Thomas K. Finletter School is one of six buildings built to this design between 1924 and 1930. Its use of colored terra cotta and its move from Colonial Revival into Art Deco mark a change in Philadelphia school design. The building is regarded as an excellent example of Catharine's Art Deco schools and retains a very high degree of integrity to its original design.","period_of_significance":"1929-1930","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition recorded as excellent; present use recorded as school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.813506-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88002271.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002271/791a13cb90-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002271/791a13cb90-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Finletter_School_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Finletter_School_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993494","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_K._Finletter_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7791431"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/finletter-thomas-k-school-88002271/"}