Woodville School
Why it's listed
Woodville School is a two-story red brick school on Farm Road in Wakefield, Massachusetts, built in 1919-1920 at a cost of about $67,000. Its Neo-Colonial design in the Dutch mode features a deep one-story center pavilion dominated by six long windows, flanked by lower slate-roofed wings, one holding an entry porch. Stepped parapets carry diamond patterns in brick, and the school's name is inscribed in cast stone on the central block. It is a symmetrical building with oversized cast stone details, comparable to the Neo-Georgian Montrose School from the same period. The school name traces to 1857, when the School Committee renamed the East District's school, earlier called Little World, as Woodville School. The area stayed thinly settled by farmers and shoemakers until suburban growth after the Second World War. The school closed in 1950 and later reopened as a 7th and 8th grade facility. It was listed for its well preserved architecture and its role as an example of local school design in the 1920s.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the school is a well preserved example of Neo-Dutch Colonial institutional architecture and represents local public school design in Wakefield in the 1920s. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and meets Criterion 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 89000694, listed July 6, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Farm Rd., Wakefield |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | July 6, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89000694 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Neo-Colonial (Dutch) |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition described as good; present use is a school. Major interior rehabilitation took place in 1950. |
| Acreage | 2.5 |
| Coordinates | 42.49796, -71.05066 (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.
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 89000694.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q8033539
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.