{"nrhp_refnum":"89000041","name":"Donaghy, Thomas, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"68 South St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.62585987500006,"lon":-70.92313057499996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-03-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 12-room, 2 1/2-story brick grammar school at 68 South Street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, built in 1905 in the Romanesque Revival style and designed by Samuel C. Hunt.","why_significant":"The school is significant locally under Criteria A and C. It represents New Bedford's rapid population growth during industrialization, driven by the cotton textile mills, and it is a fine example of the new generation of school buildings, with a central corridor and a ventilation shaft system. It is also typical of the work of Samuel C. Hunt, principal architect of the city's public buildings.","narrative":"Completed in 1905 at 68 South Street, the Thomas Donaghy School is a 12-room, 2 1/2-story brick building in the Romanesque Revival style, with a granite foundation, slate hipped roof and corbelled brick cornice. Architect Samuel C. Hunt designed it for land that belonged to Thomas Donaghy, a respected New Bedford merchant, and the school took his name. It was built as the city's population jumped from about 40,000 in 1890 to over 120,000 in 1920, as cotton textile mills drew workers and their families to the south central neighborhood. The plan reflects the modern school of its day: classrooms arranged off a central corridor, with large vertical shafts meant to ventilate each room. Hunt designed seven of the thirteen New Bedford schools built between 1890 and 1908. The school served the community until 1977 and has stood vacant since. Plans call for converting it into 24 moderate-income apartments while keeping the corridors intact.","period_of_significance":"1905-1935","architect_builder":"SAMUEL C. HUNT","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in 1977 and mothballed; vacant since then, with rehabilitation into 24 moderate-income housing units proposed.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.471432-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7944/63794470/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000041.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000041/b4054a1afb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000041/b4054a1afb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewBedfordMA_DonaghySchool.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:NewBedfordMA_DonaghySchool.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794470","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Donaghy_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7789015"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/donaghy-thomas-school-89000041/"}