Dearborn School
Why it's listed
Dearborn School is a three-story red brick schoolhouse at the curved corner of Orchard Park and Ambrose Streets in Roxbury, Boston. Designed in 1904 by Edwin J. Lewis, Jr., and completed in 1905 by W.N. Pike & Sons, it follows a broad V-shaped plan that fits its Y-shaped intersection site. The Beaux Arts exterior features limestone trim, rusticated lower stories, colossal Corinthian columns above the entrance and oriel windows lighting the stairwells. It was built under Boston's Schoolhouse Department, whose standards governed classroom size, lighting and fireproofing, and it opened to about 1,050 pupils, mostly of Irish descent. The building is valued as an intact example of an early 20th century Boston grammar school and as the only survivor of a neighborhood cleared for urban renewal around 1950. Declared surplus by the city by 1984, it stood vacant at the time of listing and was being converted to low-income housing.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the school is an intact early 20th century Boston grammar school built to new Schoolhouse Department standards, and is tied to the educational and social development of Lower Roxbury. It is also an accomplished Beaux Arts design by Lewis, with an unusual V-shaped plan fitted to its corner site. It is the sole surviving building in an area cleared around 1950 for urban renewal.
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 00000871, listed August 2, 2000. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 25 Ambrose St., Boston |
|---|---|
| County | Suffolk County |
| Listed | August 2, 2000 |
| Reference number | 00000871 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1905-1950 |
| Architect / builder | Edwin James Lewis, Jr. (architect); W.N. Pike & Sons (builder) |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Education |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The form states the school stands vacant and was being converted to low-income housing; about forty percent of the window sash are missing or covered. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.32961, -71.07783 (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 00000871.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5246971
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.