{"nrhp_refnum":"89001619","name":"District School No. 20","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 3, S of Co. Rd. 75","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hounsfield","county":"Jefferson County","state":"NY","lat":43.926281620000054,"lon":-76.10857367099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, one-room rubble limestone schoolhouse on the west side of New York State Route 3, just south of Purpura Corners in the town of Hounsfield, Jefferson County, New York. Built about 1837 (the description gives c. 1835); architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"It is a well-preserved example of the one-room stone schoolhouse, built during Hounsfield's period of stone construction (c. 1810-1840) with Chaumont limestone donated by Elisha Camp. Its later alterations reflect a national movement to improve rural schools. It keeps the highest exterior integrity of the Camp-financed schools to its 1830s origins.","narrative":"District School No. 20 is a one-story, one-room schoolhouse on Route 3 just south of Purpura Corners in Hounsfield, Jefferson County. Built around the 1830s of rubble limestone from Chaumont, it has a gabled front with a projecting vestibule, flat-arched windows with radiating stone lintels, and a low rubblestone foundation. Inside, the vestibule and classroom are finished in beaded board. The stone was donated by Sackets Harbor figure Elisha Camp, who supplied it for at least four Hounsfield schoolhouses, probably to encourage settlement. The building reflects the town's era of stone construction and the use of local limestone. Later changes, including two-over-two windows for better light, a beaded-board interior and a stove chimney, show nineteenth- and early twentieth-century efforts to improve rural classrooms. Unlike its sister schools, it never received a window band, so its exterior remains closest to the original. Students began attending the central school in Sackets Harbor in 1938, and the building is now vacant.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant; in fair condition, and the owner is considering reuse.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.663303-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/89001619.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313278","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/District_School_No._20","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5283373"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/jefferson-county/district-school-no-20-89001619/"}