Ward Street School-Millbury Street

Built in 1898-1899 at a cost of about $13,000, this two-and-one-half-storey schoolhouse stands at the foot of South Ward Street in Worcester. Designed by J. W. Patston, it is made of red brick and rises from a rock-faced granite base to a slate-covered hip roof. A gabled central pavilion with two arched entries dominates its symmetrical facade, and trim includes a rock-faced sandstone water table, sandstone sills and carved sandstone springer blocks. Elements of Romanesque Revival style appear in the design. It was built shortly after the Woodland Street School of 1897, to which it was identical, and is regarded as the best example of a group of similar schoolhouses built across the city. It was the last of four school buildings erected on the lot between the early 1880s and 1899, while surrounding neighborhoods filled with three-deckers. Highway construction and falling neighborhood population led to the demolition of the first three schoolhouses, leaving this one. It remains unaltered and is still used as a school, owned by the city.