Holmes School Historic District
Also known as: Number Two School; Holmes Memorial Hall
Why it's listed
Two small wood-frame buildings stand side by side on Hoppin Hill Avenue in North Attleborough: the Number Two School, built around 1848, and the Holmes Memorial Hall, added in the early 1890s. Both are rectangular, weatherboarded and set gable end to the street. The school is a one-room schoolhouse with paired entrances, and its framing shows a transition from heavy post-and-beam to lighter balloon-frame construction. Children attended until 1951, when a new elementary school replaced it. Of four surviving one-room schools in the town, it is the only one not moved, heavily altered or enlarged. The hall was built with money from the estate of Milton Holmes, a farmer who left his estate to the school district for education. It hosted dances, card parties, plays, Grange and neighborhood meetings, and occasional worship services until the mid-1950s. Both buildings are now vacant, and local preservation officials hope to restore them for community use.
Significance in brief: The school is the only one of four surviving one-room schoolhouses in North Attleborough that has not been moved, heavily altered or enlarged, and it represents an archetypal rural school form and the history of education. Both buildings served as community gathering places for a rural neighborhood and were funded through the bequest of farmer Milton Holmes. The district meets criteria A and C at the local level.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 01000499, listed May 1, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Hoppin Hill Ave. at Holmes Rd., North Attleborough |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | May 1, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000499 |
| Resource type | District |
| Period of significance | c. 1848-1951 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival (meeting hall); No Style (school) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Education, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as currently vacant; the local historical commission plans restoration so the buildings can again be used for local gatherings. The school floors are severely deteriorated in places. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.96160, -71.36712 (NPS GIS) |
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).
Noted as vacant in the nomination. Nomination documents can be decades old; current status may differ. If you are considering buying an empty listed property, read the due-diligence checklist.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 01000499.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.