{"nrhp_refnum":"94001591","name":"Varnum School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"103 Sixth St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.65118797900004,"lon":-71.29906632299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-01-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A composite public school building at 103 Sixth Street in the Centralville area of Lowell, Massachusetts, made up of a brick Greek Revival schoolhouse built in 1857, a 1886 two-room addition, and a larger Classical Revival addition of 1897 designed by Arthur M. Burtt.","why_significant":"The school is significant under Criterion A for its role in the mid- and late-19th century growth of Lowell's school system, especially in the newly annexed Centralville area. It is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved Greek Revival schoolhouse paired with an exemplary Classical Revival addition. The 1857 building was the first Lowell grammar school with separate classrooms for each grade.","narrative":"Varnum School at 103 Sixth Street in Lowell's Centralville neighborhood combines three building campaigns. The original two-story brick Greek Revival schoolhouse dates to 1857. A small two-story addition followed in 1886, and in 1897 a much larger three-story Classical Revival building designed by Arthur M. Burtt was attached. The addition has a pedimented central pavilion, modillioned cornice, round-arched third-story windows and extensive granite trim. When opened in 1857, the school was the first grammar school in Lowell built with separate classrooms for each grade, with eight rooms meant for sixty students each. It was the first school constructed in Centralville after the area's 1851 annexation to Lowell, and the 1897 addition made it the largest grammar school in the city. Its significance covers education and architecture from 1857 to 1920, when junior high schools began to change how Lowell used its school buildings. The school remains in use as an elementary school.","period_of_significance":"1857-1920","architect_builder":"1857: unknown; 1897: Arthur M. Burtt","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival; 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Has remained in continuous use and currently serves as an elementary school; some boarded openings and poor maintenance are noted.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.537696-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/7958/63795873/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/94001591.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001591/f54bee518f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94001591/f54bee518f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"CSZero","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VarnumOld.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">CSZero</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:VarnumOld.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795873","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varnum_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7916062"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/varnum-school-94001591/"}