{"nrhp_refnum":"88002276","name":"Gratz, Simon, High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3901--3961 N. 18th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Philadelphia","county":"Philadelphia","state":"PA","lat":40.013276363000045,"lon":-75.15627877799994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-04-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick high school at 3901-3961 North 18th Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, built in 1925-1926 to designs by Irwin T. Catharine and in Collegiate Gothic style. It shares its site with the Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Junior High School.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its place in the history of education and of school architecture in Philadelphia. It is one of three high schools of the 1920s building program by the same architect, and the Collegiate Gothic style was chosen to associate the schools with a long tradition of learning. The document states that the building has comparable integrity to the other two schools.","narrative":"Built in 1925-1926 to designs by Irwin T. Catharine, the Simon Gratz High School is a four-story brick school at 3901-3961 North 18th Street in Philadelphia. Its facade combines arched and rectangular openings, with most openings containing triple windows. The original central mass is topped by an ornate crenellated parapet, a square battlement and four corner towers decorated with carved stone. The design uses the Collegiate Gothic style, chosen to link the school with a long tradition of learning. It was one of three high schools the Philadelphia School District erected in that decade, part of a 1920s building program of 77 new schools, and the building is regarded as an important example of school architecture in the city. A one-story addition from 1970-1971 holds the replacement front entrance and leaves the original massing intact. The school shares its site with the Elizabeth Duane Gillespie Junior High School, which has the same tax parcel and was built in the same years.","period_of_significance":"1925-1926","architect_builder":"Irwin T. Catharine (architect)","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival / Collegiate Gothic","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition recorded as good; a 1970-1971 addition contains a new front entrance.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:37.865556-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/88002276.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002276/e54f399b1e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002276/e54f399b1e-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Smallbones","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gratz_HS_Philly.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Smallbones</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gratz_HS_Philly.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71993643","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Gratz_High_School_Mastery_Charter","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15277837"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/philadelphia/gratz-simon-high-school-88002276/"}