{"nrhp_refnum":"89001489","name":"Fitch, Ezra, School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 Ash St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36684471400008,"lon":-71.24251234799993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick primary school building at 10 Ash Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, opened in the fall of 1932 and designed by the Boston firm Fay, Spofford and Thorndike.","why_significant":"The school is a locally sophisticated example of early 1930s Art Deco school design, and the only Art Deco school building in Waltham. It was a late addition to the city's municipal building program and reflected a consolidation of school services on the South Side, which had grown rapidly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.","narrative":"Ezra Fitch School, at 10 Ash Street in Waltham, is a T-shaped primary school of buff brick that opened in the fall of 1932. The Boston firm Fay, Spofford and Thorndike designed it, Ralph Temple Jackson served as engineer, and the local firm M.F. Stankard and Son built it for $124,722.27. It was named for Ezra Fitch, a longtime president of the American Waltham Watch Co. The building was part of a South End school reorganization, and students from the discontinued Bemis School were transferred to it. Its projecting center pavilion, brick piers with stylized Art Deco plaques, metal entrance panels and large multipane steel sash windows give it a streamlined look. It is the only Art Deco school in the city and one of only three Art Deco buildings in Waltham, standing out among municipal buildings that usually follow classical models. A larger modern addition at the rear has not harmed the original design.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: Fay, Spofford and Thorndike; engineer Ralph Temple Jackson; general contractor M.F. Stankard and Son","architectural_style":"Art Deco","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a school, in good condition, with a substantial modern rear addition that is non-contributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.260904-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/7915/63791550/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001489.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791550","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q130484236"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/fitch-ezra-school-89001489/"}