{"nrhp_refnum":"97000498","name":"Rockport High School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rockport","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.65781381000005,"lon":-70.61705674199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-05-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Colonial Revival brick high school at 4 Broadway in Rockport, Essex County, Massachusetts, built in 1925 and designed by Boston architects J. William Beal & Sons.","why_significant":"The school is significant for its association with the development of Rockport's school system. It replaced an overcrowded, outdated and unsafe 1865 high school and was the first \"modern\" school built in the town. It retains integrity of design, setting, materials and workmanship, and is of local significance.","narrative":"Rockport High School is a two-story Colonial Revival building at 4 Broadway, near the town's central commercial district. Completed in 1925 to designs by the Boston firm J. William Beal & Sons, it is built of brick with granite sills and a granite belt course, a flat roof with a low parapet, and a five-bay central pavilion with brick piers and wood capitals. The plan is an inverted T, with classrooms and offices in the main block and an auditorium ell behind. The interior keeps most original finishes and its layout. The school was designed for 275 students in the upper six grades and cost $125,000. It replaced an 1865 high school considered overcrowded, outdated and unsafe, and was the town's first modern school in design and facilities. It served as a high school until the 1960s, then as school administration offices. It has been vacant since 1988. It was listed for its role in the growth of Rockport's schools.","period_of_significance":"1925-1946","architect_builder":"J. Williams Beal & Sons","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Vacant since 1988, when the town built a new school complex for all grades and administration offices.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.523591-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7950/63795017/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/97000498.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000498/5d13988b40-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000498/5d13988b40-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_Rockport_High_School,_May_2012,_Rockport_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Historic_Rockport_High_School,_May_2012,_Rockport_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795017","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockport_High_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7355541"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/rockport-high-school-97000498/"}