Abington Township High School
Why it's listed
Built in stages from 1888 to 1941 on a five-acre campus in Abington village, this group of six school buildings served the township's public education for decades. Its oldest section, a sandstone building with a Romanesque-inflected tower, opened in 1888 as a graded school that offered two years of high school, among the earliest in Pennsylvania. Building B, a grey stone structure begun in 1908 by Heacock & Hokinson, with wings added in 1918 and 1923, long served as the township's only high school. Building C, a domestic arts cottage completed in 1932 with a Pennsylvania farmhouse facade, reflects the school's early practical training. Abington adopted graded courses, business training, laboratory sciences and domestic science ahead of state requirements. The campus is regarded as a rare example of school campus planning in the state. Later buildings from 1939 to 1941, including a gymnasium with Art Deco details by MacKenzie & Blew, are counted as additions outside the main period.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1908-1932 |
|---|---|
| Styles | High Victorian eclecticism, Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival, Elizabethan revival, Pennsylvania farmhouse, and expressionist forms of the 1930s with Art Deco detail |
| Areas of significance | Education, Architecture |
| Acreage | 5 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Abington Township High School (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.