{"nrhp_refnum":"95001400","name":"Sanford High School, Former","other_names":["West Sanford Middle School"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"507 N. Steele St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sanford","county":"Lee County","state":"NC","lat":35.485820975000024,"lon":-79.18419396599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, L-shaped brick school building at 507 North Steele Street in Sanford, Lee County, North Carolina, built in 1924-1925 to designs by the firm Wilson, Berryman & Kennedy, with Chapman-Hunt Company as general contractor.","why_significant":"The building is cited as one of the premier structures of Sanford's 1920s building boom and a leading example of the consolidated schools built in Lee County in that period. It is also noted as one of the best surviving non-domestic Classical Revival buildings in town, with the most elaborate plasterwork identified in the county. It is significant locally in architecture and education.","narrative":"Sanford High School is a two-story, L-shaped brick building on North Steele Street, completed in 1925 during a period of rapid growth in Sanford. Designed by Wilson, Berryman & Kennedy, a firm that specialized in public schools, it has a main classroom wing, an auditorium and gymnasium wing, and Classical Revival detailing that includes concrete-faced pilasters and Doric capitals. Inside, the auditorium is the standout space, with molded plaster friezes and panels showing the Greek muses, described as the most elaborate plasterwork identified in Lee County. The school served white high school students until 1951, then worked as a junior high and middle school until 1976, and later as a county arts and community center. It was listed for its architecture and for its role as one of the consolidated schools that brought auditoriums and gymnasiums to Lee County. A cafeteria added in 1956 is the main exterior change.","period_of_significance":"1924-1945","architect_builder":"Wilson, Berryman & Kennedy (architects); Chapman-Hunt Company (general contractor)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Declared unsafe for occupancy by county officials in the early 1990s after plaster fell in a classroom; ownership passed to a nonprofit arts and community center group in 1995, with rehabilitation planned. Current function listed as work in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.32345-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/31/7181/47718131/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/95001400.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001400/2b2c0a73b0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001400/2b2c0a73b0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SANFORD_HIGH_SCHOOL,_FORMER;_LEE_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:SANFORD_HIGH_SCHOOL,_FORMER;_LEE_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00000771","name":"Hawkins Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/hawkins-avenue-historic-district-00000771/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718131","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Sanford_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20679828"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/lee-county/sanford-high-school-former-95001400/"}