{"nrhp_refnum":"97000851","name":"Bedford School","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2400 School Ln","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bedford","county":"Tarrant County","state":"TX","lat":32.846313027000065,"lon":-97.15087497399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-08-14","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 brick school building at 2400 School Lane in Bedford, Tarrant County, Texas, built in 1914-15 by contractors C.C. and F.T. Estill on a 6-acre hilltop tract.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the school is one of the last surviving traces of the early Bedford community and of pre-World War II northeast Tarrant County. It was the centerpiece of a rural community and reflects early 20th century efforts by small settlements to improve public education. It meets Criterion A at the local level in Education and Community Planning and Development.","narrative":"Bedford School is a two-story brick schoolhouse on a 6-acre hilltop tract in Bedford, Texas, built in 1914-15 by contractors C.C. and F.T. Estill. Its most distinctive feature is a large round-arched entrance on the south front. The building has little ornament and is not classed as any particular architectural style. Local residents voted 28 to 2 in 1914 to issue $5,000 in school bonds to pay for it, making Bedford one of the early leaders in Tarrant County's schoolhouse bond movement. The school served as the centerpiece of a rural community that later grew into a suburb between Dallas and Fort Worth, and it is one of few surviving links to that era. Additions were made in the 1950s, and a 1991 fire nearly destroyed the building. A rehabilitation restored its 1914-15 appearance, removed the later additions and added a rear wing joined by a glass walkway. It now operates as a museum with period furniture and school exhibits.","period_of_significance":"1914 - 1947","architect_builder":"Estill, C.C.; Estill, F.T.","architectural_style":"Other: Vernacular school building","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Fire nearly destroyed it in 1991; it was later rehabilitated, with 1950s additions removed and a new rear addition built, and now serves as an interpretive museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.097397-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/9735/40973540/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/97000851.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000851/389870505c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000851/389870505c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bedford2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:Bedford2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973540","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110000123"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/tarrant-county/bedford-school-97000851/"}