{"nrhp_refnum":"90000824","name":"Highland School","other_names":["Highland Graded School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1017 10th Ave. NE.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hickory","county":"Catawba County","state":"NC","lat":35.74267746500004,"lon":-81.31632388699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-06-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick school building on a knoll in the 1000 block of 10th Avenue in northeast Hickory, Catawba County, North Carolina, with a separate brick gymtorium and lunchroom building to the west. It was built in 1921 and designed by Loyd Ransom Rink, with Milt Setzer of the Elliott Building Company as builder.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is significant architecturally, as an example of 1920s school modernization in North Carolina, and for its role in early twentieth-century public education in Catawba County. It is described as among the forerunners of the statewide shift toward brick consolidated schools, and as the finest building in Catawba County when built.","narrative":"Built in 1921 in Hickory's northeast residential district, the Highland School is a two-story brick building with a hipped slate roof, laid in common bond with a central round-arched entrance and a nine-bay projecting front pavilion. Designed by civil engineer Loyd Ransom Rink and built by the Elliott Building Company, it opened with about 250 pupils serving elementary and high school grades for the surrounding northwestern area of the county. Its design reflects the era's new approach to school buildings, with an auditorium, central corridor, large classrooms and generous windows. The school remained in use until 1980, and the nomination regards it as a representative example of the statewide effort to replace one- and two-teacher wooden schools with modern brick buildings in the 1920s and 1930s. Its distinctive pivoting sash and original beaded board ceilings survive. A 1950 gymtorium stands beside it.","period_of_significance":"1921-1940","architect_builder":"Loyd Ransom Rink (designer, civil engineer); Milt Setzer, Elliott Building Company (builder)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in 1980 and vacant; the school building is undergoing rehabilitation for housing for the elderly.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.831968-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/7195/47719519/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/90000824.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000824/8282242626-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000824/8282242626-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tyler Grove","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_School,_Hickory_North_Carolina.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tyler Grove</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Highland_School,_Hickory_North_Carolina.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719519","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_School_(Hickory,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18151744"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/catawba-county/highland-school-90000824/"}