Prospect Hill School
Why it's listed
Prospect Hill School is a 2½-story red brick schoolhouse at 33 Montgomery Street in Westfield, Massachusetts. Built in 1897 with rough-cut sandstone trim, it was remodeled in 1919 to add classroom and assembly hall space and a new Colonial Revival front with a projecting gabled entry pavilion. Augustus W. Holton designed the original building, and Malcolm B. Harding designed the addition. Inside, the plan remains largely intact, with a central hall, six classrooms on the first floor, an upstairs auditorium with a proscenium arch, and woodwork with patera corner blocks. The school served a neighborhood on Prospect Hill that grew more crowded and more ethnically mixed around 1900, and it stood on the site of earlier district schools. It closed in 1991, and water damage and vandalism have since harmed the interior. Its significance rests on its role in local education from 1897 to 1958 and on its Colonial Revival design.
Significance in brief: The nomination cites the school under Criterion A for education and Criterion C for architecture. It represents the growth of Westfield's North Side school system and a Colonial Revival design. The 1897 building was designed by Augustus W. Holton, and the 1919 addition by Malcolm B. Harding.
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 08001069, listed November 19, 2008. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 33 Montgomery St., Westfield |
|---|---|
| County | Hampden County |
| Listed | November 19, 2008 |
| Reference number | 08001069 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1897-1958 |
| Architect / builder | Augustus W. Holton (1897 building); Malcolm B. Harding (1919 addition) |
| Architectural style | Late 19th & Early 20th C. Revival: Colonial Revival |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Education |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Closed as a school in 1991 and listed as vacant, not in use; suffered water damage and vandalism, and has been secured and is being dried out in preparation for renovation. |
| Acreage | 1.4 |
| Within district | Westfield Center Commercial Historic District |
| Coordinates | 42.12763, -72.74624 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For a publicly owned building or structure, listing mainly matters when federal funds, permits or licences are involved: projects then go through Section 106 review so effects on the property are considered. Listing also strengthens applications for preservation grants and, for leased income-producing uses, can enable the federal rehabilitation tax credit.
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 08001069.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q15378626
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.