Drexel, Francis M., School
Why it's listed
Built in the late 1880s in Philadelphia, the Drexel School was designed by Joseph Anshutz, who prepared many school plans for the city's School Board. Anshutz later served as the board's architect and supervisor of school buildings and designed some 75 schools, many repeating the same style and basic plan. The Drexel School uses brick corbelling, tall attenuated chimneys and molded brick belt courses in a Queen Anne-influenced design drawn from the work of Frank Furness. Each floor contains five classrooms, some divided by sliding partitions, and the building follows the single-loaded corridor variation of the Sloan plan with stairs at flanking ends. It is regarded as a proto-typical example of this design and is among the few relatively intact survivors of the Drexel School models built in the 1880s and 1890s, alongside the Key and Landreth Schools.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the school represents an important period in school design and embodies Victorian-era popular styling. It is regarded as a proto-typical Queen Anne-influenced design that uses the single-loaded corridor variation of the Sloan plan, and it is one of a few relatively intact examples of its model surviving.
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 86003272, listed December 4, 1986. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-haiku-5-5, prompt v1.1-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1800 S. Sixteenth St., Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| County | Philadelphia |
| Listed | December 4, 1986 |
| Reference number | 86003272 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Joseph Anshutz (architect) |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne-influenced, Furness-inspired High Style Victorian |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Acreage | 1 |
| Coordinates | 39.92838, -75.17259 (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 86003272.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5481798
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.