{"nrhp_refnum":"99001685","name":"Higginsport School","other_names":["Bro-304-11"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Jackson and Gaines Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Higginsport","county":"Brown County","state":"OH","lat":38.79086744400007,"lon":-83.96826202899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-01-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2-1/2 story brick public school with a three-story central tower, built in 1880 at Jackson and Gaines Streets in Higginsport, Brown County, Ohio, and enlarged with a gymnasium in 1930 and a cafeteria and classroom wing in 1932.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of Brown County's oldest and most intact examples of public school architecture. It is also a fine local expression of Romanesque Revival and Italianate styles. It has been the village's most prominent landmark since 1880 and was believed to be the oldest operating school in Ohio before it closed.","narrative":"Built in 1880 on a terrace above U.S. Route 52 in Higginsport, this brick school has a three-story central tower, projecting gable ends and sandstone belt courses and trim. Its four-over-four classroom plan around a central hallway survives with blackboards and wainscoting. A gymnasium was added in 1930, and a cafeteria and classroom wing followed in 1932. The building was modeled on a school in Maysville, Kentucky, and a contemporary county history called it second to none in the county. It combines Italianate windows with Romanesque Revival corbelling and freestone trim, and few rural Ohio schools of this type remain. It served the village for more than a century and was believed to be the oldest operating school in Ohio when it closed in the late 1980s. After a period of neglect, a citizens committee formed in 1998, ownership passed to the village, and preservation plans are moving forward. No architect or general contractor has been identified.","period_of_significance":"1880-1949","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Italianate (with Romanesque Revival elements)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Closed as a school in the late 1980s and described as vacant, with first-floor windows boarded and repairs needed. Ownership has passed to the village, which is working on preservation plans.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.165146-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/99001685.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001685/2b79d47bca-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001685/2b79d47bca-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Christopher L. Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Higginsport_School_%E2%80%94_Higginsport,_Ohio.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Christopher L. Riley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Higginsport_School_%E2%80%94_Higginsport,_Ohio.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71986853","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137605095"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/brown-county/higginsport-school-99001685/"}