{"nrhp_refnum":"89000568","name":"Academie Brochu","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"29 Pine St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07963294800004,"lon":-72.03749698299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick school building at 29 Pine Street, Southbridge, Massachusetts, built in 1899 and designed by Chickering & O'Connell of Springfield. It sits in a parish complex and is still used as a school.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is tied to the growth of Southbridge's French Canadian community in the late nineteenth century. It is also a notable Colonial Revival design by Chickering & O'Connell. It is described as one of the most imposing buildings in Southbridge.","narrative":"Academie Brochu is a brick school at 29 Pine Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, completed in 1899 to designs by Chickering & O'Connell of Springfield. Built for the Notre Dame parish, it was named for Msgr. George Elzear Brochu, the pastor who pushed for a proper Christian education for the children of French Canadian mill workers. The building cost about $40,000 and held six classrooms plus a chapel, with sisters serving as teachers. Its Colonial Revival design features formal symmetry, two projecting facade pavilions, broad hip roofs and a gabled pediment. Limestone sills and lintels and yellow brick trim contrast with the red brick walls. Later changes include a side addition and replacement metal windows and doors, though the building remains in good condition and in school use. It is valued for its architecture and for its role in the growth of Southbridge's French Canadian community.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Chickering & O'Connell, Springfield","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is a school; condition is described as good, with some altered windows and doors.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.365257-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/7934/63793447/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000568.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000568/fc70db761f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000568/fc70db761f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Academie_Brochu,_Southbridge_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Academie_Brochu,_Southbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793447","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academie_Brochu","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4671318"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/academie-brochu-89000568/"}