{"nrhp_refnum":"95000318","name":"Forest Avenue High School, Old","other_names":["Madison,James,High School","Phase IV--East Dallas DAL/DA 49"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"3000 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dallas","county":"Dallas County","state":"TX","lat":32.77129541100004,"lon":-96.76494079899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-03-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick high school building at 3000 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (formerly Forest Avenue) in Dallas, Texas, built in 1916 to designs by architect W.P. Ittner in the Italian Renaissance style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the school is an excellent local example of Italian Renaissance architecture, a style little used in Dallas and rarely surviving there. It retains its original exterior to a high degree, with only compatible rear additions from 1949-50. It also reflects the suburban growth of South Dallas and the area's changing demographics.","narrative":"Completed in 1916, this three-story brick high school at 3000 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Dallas was built to serve the growing suburban communities of South Dallas. Designed by architect W.P. Ittner, it occupies an entire city block on the site of a former streetcar barn. Its Palladian-like facade features a taller central bay with cast-stone quoins, Doric columns framing two entrances, and a cornice with balustrade, all set on slightly raised ground for a grand effect. Rear additions from 1949-50 added classrooms and gymnasiums using similar materials. The school was renamed James Madison High School in 1956 as the neighborhood's demographics shifted. It was listed for its architecture: Italian Renaissance buildings were rarely built in early twentieth-century Dallas, few survive, and this one remains largely unaltered. It is also one of the city's oldest surviving high school buildings and is still used for education.","period_of_significance":"1916","architect_builder":"Ittner, W.P. (architect)","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Italian Renaissance","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and still used as a school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.9998-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/9686/40968660/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/95000318.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000318/6561f93b61-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000318/6561f93b61-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Hasteur","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Maddison_HS_(Dallas,_TX).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Hasteur</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:James_Maddison_HS_(Dallas,_TX).JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40968660","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Madison_High_School_(Dallas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6138767"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/dallas-county/forest-avenue-high-school-old-95000318/"}