{"nrhp_refnum":"94001478","name":"Modern Times School","other_names":["District 12 School","Brentwood School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Third Ave. and First St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brentwood","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.77665839700006,"lon":-73.25392093099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-12-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-room octagonal wood-frame schoolhouse built in 1857 for the Modern Times community in Brentwood, Suffolk County, New York. It has been moved twice and now stands at Third Avenue and First Street on a school district campus.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is the only surviving public building of the Modern Times utopian community, founded in 1852 by Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews. It is the only surviving octagonal schoolhouse on Long Island and one of only eight known octagonal buildings there. Its framing also shows early use of balloon framing technology.","narrative":"Built in 1857, this one-story octagonal schoolhouse served the children of Modern Times, a utopian community founded in 1852 by Josiah Warren and Stephen Pearl Andrews and based on individual sovereignty. The wood-frame building originally had board and batten siding, a hipped roof, a small cupola and a gabled entrance portico. It was used as a school until 1907, then moved and converted into a house, losing its portico and cupola and gaining dormers and a second floor. In 1989 it was donated to the school district and moved to its present site, where a new cupola was built and the structure stabilized. It is the only surviving public building from the Modern Times community, the only surviving octagonal schoolhouse on Long Island, and shows early balloon framing. The octagonal form followed ideas promoted by Orson Fowler and educators of the period. Plans call for restoration and interpretation of local history.","period_of_significance":"1857-1907","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-Nineteenth Century/Octagon Mode","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Vacant and awaiting restoration after being moved to its current site in 1989; later changes include a new cupola and removal of non-historic siding and chimney.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.093643-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/94001478.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001478/bdfa7030ca-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001478/bdfa7030ca-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"DanTD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Modern_Times_School;_Brentwood,_NY_(Over_Fence).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">DanTD</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:Modern_Times_School;_Brentwood,_NY_(Over_Fence).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322184","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Times_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6888904"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/modern-times-school-94001478/"}