Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 CFR 67) has been requested x - Federal agency - previously listed in the National Register - Local government - previously determined eligible by the National - University Register Other - designated a National Historic Landmark Name of repository: - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey #. - recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Center Schoel Name of Property Middlesex, MA County, State 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property less than one acre JTM References See continuation sheet Place additional UTM references on a continuation shee 1. 19 315100 4707940 Zone Easting Northing 2.
Zone Easting Northing 3. Zone Easting "Zone Easting - See continuation sheet Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11. Form Prepared By name/title Heli Meltsner consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, NR Director, MHC organization. Massachusetts Historical Commission date April 2006 street & number_ 220 Morrissey Boulevard _ telephone - 617-727-8470 city or town Boston stateMA _zip code_ 02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Northing Northing A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name_ Town of Burlington, MA street & number Town Hall, 29 Center Street telephone 781-270-1635 city or town - Burlington . state_MA _ zip code_ 01803 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127: andthe Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NPS Form110-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page_ 1 OMB Approval No.
10240018 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Narrative Description The Center School, built in 1855 as a one-room rural schoolhouse, is prominently placed in Burlington Center at an historic crossroads facing the Town Common. The transitional Greek Revival/Italianate style clapboard schoolhouse on high brick foundations rises 1½-stories and attic to a front-gable roof. It is characterized by quoins, an arched cupola with original weathervane, large 6/6 double hung windows, and a segmental arched window with footed sill in the gable field. The building appears to be based on a model schoolhouse plan, published by the Massachusetts Board of Education in 1838; its exterior design is thought to have been adapted from two 1853 schoolhouses erected nearby in Lexington.
Its central door placement and Colonial Revival style surround reflect a change of use when the abandoned school with two entries was altered in 1898 to serve as the Town's first Public Library building. The library would remain in the building for seventy years. The Center School is in good condition and retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. It meets Criteria A and C on the local level for its historical and architectural significance. The building played an integral and important part of the growth and development of Burlington as a community through its use as a school, library, police station, and finally as a museum. Architecturally a combination of Greek Revival and Italianate styles, the schoolhouse is a blend of both styles and a unique building in the town of Burlington.
The Center School at 13 Bedford Street stands in Burlington Center across from Simonds Park and the Common and serves as their southern gateway. Ranged about the large Common or nearby are contemporary Town government buildings, the 1898 Union School, a Colonial Period burial ground, an historic house and tavern, a park and a gas station. A post World War II house and a garage are the Center School's immediate neighbors. Its location at the approximate center of the town played a significant role in its erection. The north-facing building is set on a quarter-acre corner lot at the southwest intersection of Bedford and Cambridge Streets. Landscaping includes an evergreen hedge along the south lot line and contemporary evergreen foundation plantings, a small lawn, a tree and an oval flowerbed on which a wood flagpole (ca.
1967) and a small memorial (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 2 Page_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0918 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA stone (1992) dedicated to Lt. Robert A. Vignean are placed. A narrow gravel driveway runs near the southern boundary of the lot behind the building. Both objects are noncontributing. Exterior The 30' x 42' building is rectangular in plan and one story and attic high. It is set on high, red brick foundations. The front-gabled, asphalt shingle roof is finished with deep returns and raking molding. A plain cornice extends along the west and east elevations. Wide wood Italianate quoins at the building's four corners span the clapboarded area.
An end- wall chimney rises through the ridge of the north elevation and a ventilator emerges from the center area of the ridge. A two-stage, square Italianate cupola is set forward on the roof ridge: the first stage is sided in wide clapboards, the flushboarded second stage features a round-arch opening on each side that springs from wooden imposts and is closed by heavy turned balustrades. The cupola's shallow hip roof is finished with a fine wrought iron weathervane with feathered arrow. It is thought to have been forged by Richard Alley, a blacksmith who lived in Burlington in the mid-19th century. The façade or north elevation is one bay wide. The 1898 Colonial Revival central door surround features a basket-handle-arched transom, half-length sidelights and a two-part cornice. Although the door surround was damaged in a 1970 fire it was salvaged and repaired.
The door itself was replaced. A narrow wood segmental-arched sign may be a survival of the 1898 block painted sign that was placed over the library's entry ca. 1898. The original sign reading PUBLIC LIBRARY-READING ROOM appears to have been repainted with the legend: BURLINGTON PUBLIC MUSEUM. Centered on the gable field is an Italianate segmental arched window with a simplified hood-mold and footed sill. The wooden stairs and spindle rail to the entry are contemporary. The west and east elevations are similar. The shutters date from at least 1898 but possibly from 1855, the late 20* century storm windows are 2/2.
On the east, four large 6/6 windows with contemporary sash but possibly original surrounds are placed over three (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page_ 3 OMB Approval No. 1024-0913 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA smaller 6/6-basement windows. The northernmost basement bay has been filled. On the west elevation only two of the four main floor windows remain. The southernmost opening was blocked when the stair to the basement was repaired in 1970, and a ca. 1898 door to the exterior with six-light transom occupies the position of the most southernmost bay. A contemporary wood stair and landing give access to this door. There are two 6/6 basement windows on this elevation; both the southern and northernmost have been filled.
The south or rear elevation has no windows lighting the main room but a plain rectangular 6/6 window is centered on the gable field. A contemporary gable-roof vestibule shelters an exit from the basement on the southeast corner. A possibly original at-grade basement door opening with fieldstone retaining walls and contemporary door is located near the southwest corner. Interior The interior, floored in hardwood installed in 1898 that replaced the original probably pine floor, is divided into two rooms, a large main room and the vestibule. The front door opens to a 32' x 8 ½ ' vestibule or anteroom. The vestibule's south wall, which has two openings to the main room, was heavily repaired in 1970 after extensive fire damage. A closed stair in the southwest corner of this room leads to the basement.
A matching stair to the basement on the southeast corner was eliminated in the 1898 library rehabilitation and a cloakroom, now a storage room, was inserted in its place. It retains both wide-board vertical and horizontal wainscoting and coat-hooks. The vestibule, renovated in 1898 for the library, in 1969 for use as the Town Police Station, and again in 1970 for use as the Town Museum, retains little original finish, but for the 1898 hardwood floor. The walls are finished with a ca. 1970 wood-paneled dado with murals above depicting local historic events painted by local residents Don Gorvett and Jeff Weaver. The thirty-two foot square undivided main room is fourteen feet high. Much of its original design and finish remain.
Its intact pressed metal ceiling and ornate egg and dart (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7 Page_ 4 OMB Approval No. 10240818 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA cornice probably date from the 1898 renovation as a library. Beaded board wainscoting rises to windowsill height. A picture rail encircling the room set lower on the plastered walls is probably original, as are the crown mold Italianate lintels that enrich the three windows on each side elevation. The age of the two-part solid folding interior shutters with small, white porcelain knobs is not known. The entry at the rear of the west elevation may have been inserted as an alternate egress when the building was rehabilitated as a library in 1898.
It has the same lintel as the other doorways. The six-panel door probably dates from this time. The basement was remodeled in 1969-1970 for use as a Police Station and later for the Town Museum. It retains no original organization or finish except for the interior shutters. There is evidence of one original rear entrance; another may have been demolished when the rear entry addition was erected in the mid-to-late 20" century. Archaeological Description No ancient Native American sites are located on the school property or in the general area (within one mile). While environmental characteristics of the nominated parcel represent some locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, proximity to wetlands) that are favorable for the presence of Native sites, the potential for locating ancient sites is generally low.
The school does sit on a well drained, level to moderately sloping landscape; however, the nearest wetlands are located over 1,000 feet from the school, a locational characteristic that adversely effects the site sensitivity for this location. Given the above information and the effects of school construction on the on the small (one- quarter acre) lot, a low potential exists for locating ancient Native American resources on the school property. A moderate potential exists for locating historic archaeological resources on the school property. Archaeological features and/or structural evidence may survive from privies in the area surrounding the school or water closets beneath the now remodeled basement.
The school was constructed in 1855; however, the basement was still unfinished in 1857 (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 7/8 Page_5/1 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA indicating water closets were likely not built during the initial construction, possibly indicating the presence of a privy outside the school. Structural evidence of outbuildings and trash deposits including sheet type refuse may also exist on the school property. (end) 8. Narrative Statement of Significance Burlington's determination to repeatedly salvage this prominently sited building has resulted in four uses, as a school, public library, temporary police station, and finally town historic museum.
While only the first two uses fall within its period of significance, its nearly one and one-half century use as a public institution says much about the value it holds for the citizens of Burlington. An instance of the community's commitment to the building is the fact that, for its first use as a school, the public contributed needed furnishing and educational materials above what the School Committee was willing to commit. Similarly, for its second as a library, a resident provided significant funding for its rehabilitation while others gave grants for its collection. The Town Museum was rehabilitated with funds raised by the community and a state grant and is administered by local volunteer effort with Town support. At its incorporation as a Town in 1799, Burlington had four schools, one in each of the south, north, east, and center districts.
When the Center schoolhouse was moved to the western part of town in 1839, parents in the Center began agitating for a replacement near the Meeting House. Town Meeting warrants for the construction of a new Center School were voted down in every year between 1839 and 1843, and again in 1849, 1852, and 1855. Residents, torn between the desire for convenient access to a school for Center residents and keeping taxes low, voted in April 1855 for a Center school "for a term not exceeding sixteen weeks by a male teacher in winter" [quoted in Fogelberg, Burlington, p. 238]. After reversing that vote, bitter debate and yet more voting, a 48 to 45 decision was made to build a school at the Center in 1855.
(continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page 2 OMB Approval No. 1024-0918 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Abner Marion, Esq. a prominent Center stage tavern keeper and farmer, donated one quarter of an acre of land for the lot. It was well located, across from the Common and near the Meeting House. The building was erected at a cost of $2,329.82. The school had two water closets in the basement divided to give each gender its own private area, and three stoves. Apparently the basement was still basically unfurnished in 1857.
Similar to the public spirited contributions of its library reuse, the town's Friends of Education and Progress contributed the weathervane on the cupola, educational materials such as maps, geometrical cubes and geometrical solids, diagrams, two globes, and furnishings such as a table for the teacher, a thermometer, and window curtains. Under the forceful and influential leadership of Horace Mann, who served from 1838 to 1848 as Massachusetts' first Secretary of the Board of Education, the Commonwealth rapidly energized, organized, and improved its public school system. Among other advances, Mann founded normal schools for teacher training, started pilot programs, and institutionalized state norms of all sorts. The reform movement he set in motion produced changes in educational policy and the architecture of the state's schoolhouses.
In 1847 Mann reported that for years, the condition of the state's schoolhouses "had been growing worse and worse." [Tenth Annual Report, Board of Education, 1847, Dutton and Wentworth, Boston, 1847.] He would have known this intimately as he was educated in a one-room schoolhouse in Franklin, Massachusetts. He reported that the schoolhouses were increasingly dilapidated, in contrast to every other building type that had been erected in the state. "In 1837, not one third part of the Public School-houses in Massachusetts would have been considered tenantable by any decent family, out of the poor-house or in it." They were smoky with poor ventilation, had no proper toilet facilities, and had painful, unhealthy seating.
Beyond the physical health of the student, Mann was concerned about the lack of comfort, neatness and elegance, adequate space for each pupil, and separation of the sexes for toileting. He believed that creating more pleasant and healthier conditions would better facilitate learning, the great equalizer of Americans. His efforts towards the (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page_ OMB Approval No. 10240918 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA improvement of schoolhouse design resulted in what he thought of as almost a revolution. This building was almost certainly a reflection of Mann's reform campaign.
A supplement to Mann's First Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education (1838) concerned the design of schools, complete with model plans and designs for fixed desks. This school was not very different from the plans for village schoolhouses published in the First Report and another of Mann's plans reprinted in Henry Barnard's Practical Illustrations of the Principles of School Architecture of 1851. The interior for one 1838 plan featured the same two entries, one for boys and the other for girls. They led to small cloakrooms and thence to the large room, with a small wood storage room between them. In the later plan this room was used for small class recitations.
The one large room, in which single desks could be arranged in long vertical rows or double to quadruple desks arranged in shorter horizontal rows, contained a teacher's platform located at the narrow end of the room furthest from the entry. The 1838 plan did not have a basement, but builders were encouraged to build one for the warmth they could provide and to house a furnace, thought vastly superior to the stoves commonly used. The 1838 plan called for a building 53' x 35' exclusive of portico "if a cheap rather than a tasteful building is required". Windows were to be placed high. The main room was 48' x 35' , while the Center School's main room was 32' square. The fact that Center School was designed to be much larger than any of the existing schools in town may owe something to two facts.
The first was a law passed in 1852 mandating school attendance for pupils five to fifteen years of age. Since regular attendance had been a troubling problem in this agricultural town with a stable population, it was probably clear that if enforced, classes would be larger. The second concerned the education of older students. While Mann had urged that younger children be taught in district schools and older ones at a central high school, the Center School did not limit itself to children twelve years and above until 1857, although the building may have been designed with this eventuality in mind. The Center School was the obvious candidate as it was the newest of the schoolhouses and centrally located.
(continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page_ 4 OMB Approval No. 1024-0818 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA For at least the first ten years a man, thought to have more control over the older boys, taught the Center School. In 1868 the school admitted 45 students "by qualification," meaning the more advanced students were admitted irrespective of age. The town had just instituted graded study, though all students continued to study in the one room. The Town, always strapped for cash, spent as little as possible on the maintenance of the school. In 1874 the School Committee reported that two stoves were "so badly broken as to be perfectly useless." [Annual Town Report, 1874, School Committee Report, p.
75.] It converted to coal that year but did not repair the leaking roof. They also reported that students at the Center School "joined it for the purpose of enjoying themselves and in doing as they pleased." [ibid] The remedy was a new male teacher who made limited progress with his 43 students, aged 11-19, divided into an astounding 28 classes. It would take a professional School Superintendent to convince the still-rural residents of Burlington to abandon their ancient district school system of one-room schoolhouses and to plan for and build a centralized, consolidated school. When the consolidated Union School was finally constructed on the Common in 1897, the five district schools, including the then 43-year old Center School, immediately became redundant.
In what must have been a negotiated agreement, in 1900 the Selectmen auctioned off the Center School for one dollar to Abner Marion Jr., son of the man who had originally donated the land. When he returned the lot to the Town, Edward S. Barker, a summer resident, recent appointee to the Library board and a wealthy insurance broker for the State Mutual Life Assurance Co. of Boston agreed to pay for its conversion to a Town library. He and his wife gave the money as a memorial to their two children. Burlington's first public library, started with $1,000 in 1856, was located on a shelf in Cutler's store in the Center. After a stay in a private home it relocated in 1879 to the just- enlarged, now demolished Town Hall (1844). The Center School building was the town's first building given entirely to the library.
After the rehabilitation funded by the Barkers the Burlington Library-Reading Room opened in 1898. Although a second grade class was installed in the Reading Room in 1920 and 1921 when the Union School became (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page_ 5 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA overcrowded, the schoolhouse continued to serve as the Town's library building for seventy years. The library was the recipient of two different thousand-dollar donations by Town citizens, one by David Simonds in 1890, the other by Cora McIntire, a former one-room schoolhouse teacher, in 1941. After the rehabilitation, the large classroom was divided down the center by a rail separating the Library from the Reading Room.
Five rows of book stacks were located to the right of the rail, a table, chairs, and magazine rack were located to the left in the reading room. In the early 1950s a new federal highway system was developed to connect the nation's major metropolitan areas. The completion of MA Route 128 (now I-95) in 1954 spurred the transformation of Burlington from a small town of 2,500 in 1950 to the fastest- growing suburban town in the state with a population 12,953 only a decade later. By the mid-1960s the building had become too small for its library purpose. The building closed on September 12, 1968 when the larger new Sears Public Library, constructed across the Common, replaced it. The Burlington Historical was put in charge of the vacant building. The Commission had been formed just the year before after the near-loss of another one-room schoolhouse galvanized a preservation movement in town.
The Historical Commission did not keep it for long as the Police Department, deprived of its housing when the old Town Hall was demolished, almost immediately and without notice to the Commission, made temporary use of the building. In August 1970, a disgruntled youth threw a Molotov cocktail at the station, causing a fire and damaging the interior, particularly the basement and the wall between the vestibule and the main room. The fire caused the exit of the Police Department and its return to the Historical Commission. Mrs. Elizabeth Bennett Lowther, a member of both the Society and the Commission, spearheaded its reuse as a town history museum. With money from the insurance company, additional funds raised by flea markets, resident donations and a grant for $4,551 the Commission was able to repair the damage.
(continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page_ 6 OMB Approval No. 10240918 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA It repaired the wall dividing the classroom and the vestibule, refinished the floor, and remodeled the already altered basement for meetings. The Burlington Historical Society commissioned the murals on the vestibule walls. The Burlington Garden Club provided landscaping for the previously bare lot. The museum holds the Historical Commission's historical collections. Architectural Significance The Center School, a fine example of a mid-19* century one-room schoolhouse, is a model of then current educational planning and architectural style as interpreted by local and regional artisans.
The masonry of the foundation and basement was the work of Mr. French of Woburn, the carpentry was the work of David Clark of West Cambridge, now Arlington. The exterior of the school is thought to have been modeled on a school in Lexington, probably one of the two nearly identical buildings--the Tidd and Scotland Schools erected in 1853. The Center School reproduced the basic form of these buildings: a one-story clapboard rectangle on high brick foundations, front-gable roof, façade with two entries and a forward-placed cupola. But while the Lexington schoolhouses were also transitional between the Greek Revival and the Italianate; in style they tended more towards the Greek Revival, having a full pediments, plain cornerboards and doors with simple architrave surrounds.
Their Italianate elements include the double arches of the cupolas, cornices with deep modillions and dentils, and oculus windows in the pediment. In contrast, the Center School was finished with more overt Italianate stylistic elements: an open gable field with a central segmental arched window on footed sill, quoins, and a balustrade closing the arches of the cupola. While the cornice at the Lexington schools was ornate, in Burlington it was left plain. For comparison, no graphic representation remains of the original Center School entries. It would appear that the interior plan for the school resembles, or was actually modeled on one of a set of plans created by the Massachusetts Board of Education 17 years earlier.
Perhaps the lack of innovation in the interim was not so much because Burlington was (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page_ 7 OMB Approval No. 10240915 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA especially conservative or lacked money for more up-to-date plans, but because few new ideas for grammar school organization were available, the organization of the classroom and teaching methods having remained fairly constant during that period. While one- room schoolhouses were not ubiquitous, they were the norm in rural schools at mid-19th century. The separation of the sexes, expressed on the exterior and on the interior with two sets of doors, stairways, and exits to the privies, represents a continuation of pedagogic and architectural tradition.
Boys and girls sat on opposite sides of the classroom and "were segregated as much as possible when outside the supervision of the teacher." Fogelberg 8/20/1991, Daily Times Chronicle, "The Building with Four Lives"]. This expression remained during the forty-three years the building remained a schoolhouse. The increased size and more elaborate ornamentation of the Center School does differ significantly from the then-existing Burlington schoolhouses. In contrast to the small size and relative plainness of the West School (1792, remodeled 1837), the Center School demonstrated an entirely different attitude towards building for public education. The Town must have determined to construct the finest and largest building rather than the cheapest way to enclose the minimal space it could for its budget.
The transitional nature of the building is seen in reference to the late 19t century Union School that replaced it. That building was built at two stories, with four rooms and corridor on each floor to accommodate its graded classrooms. Burlington Public Library and Reading Room The 1898 renovation was planned to change the building's image as well as its function from schoolhouse to library. However, much of the building's design and materials were retained, perhaps because it was a local landmark, perhaps to conserve the limited funds available. The traditional two-entries, then the clear mark of an educational institution, were altered to a single, monumental, center entry.
Its Colonial Revival style surround was an idiosyncratic mix of Federal and Italianate architectural features: a flattened semi- elliptical arch of the fan light supporting a wider, eared architrave-like frieze and dentiled cornice. The effect is of a charming but homemade design. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page_ 8 OMB Approval No. 10240915 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Similarly, the matching staircases for boys and girls were no longer required and occupied needed room. Space found by demolishing one was used to store coats. The rear exit was probably installed at this time. The teacher's platform was removed and a new hardwood floor installed, uniting the room.
It is possible that the pressed metal ceiling was installed at this time or slightly later. Manufacturers claimed that metal ceilings were highly decorative, fire resistant, more permanent, cheaper to maintain than plaster, and improved sanitation. The Burlington Historical Museum The Historical Commission, whose mission was preservation, made little attempt to alter the building when the Burlington Police Department vacated after the fire. Instead it focused on repair and maintenance. As the walls of the vestibule were damaged in the fire and replastered after it, murals could be placed there without affecting valuable historic fabric. The collaboration of the Historical Commission and the Historical Society here is notable.
Community Preservation The Town of Burlington has persistently retained this iconic building when it proved too small for the current use, first as a library, police station and finally as a public museum. It mobilized funding from private parties and from public grants to rehabilitate the building to suit a change of use, but consistently preserved the character-defining elements that made it a local landmark. Because of the rapid mid-to-late 20" century transformation of Burlington from a rural town to a bedroom and shopping community there are comparatively few historic buildings in town. The Center School clearlt has emotive value as an enduring reminder of the community's heritage. The Town is seeking National Register listing both to gain eligibility for grants that will help further restore the building and to recognize the special place it holds for its residents.
The building is maintained by the Town of Burlington but sustained by the volunteer effort of the Historical Commission, the Historical Society, and the population of the town. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page_ 9 OMB Approval No. 1024-0918 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Archaeological Significance Historic archaeological resources described above may contribute important information relating to 19" and early 20" century education in Burlington and the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of students that attended the Center School.
Additional documentary research combined with archaeological survey and testing may locate artifacts and structural evidence that identifies architectural details and parts of the school no longer extant. Important information may exist that traces the evolution of sanitary facilities in educational buildings during the mid to late 19* century. Artifacts and structural evidence may exist that identifies the date of construction and form for the water closets installed in the basement of the school. Potential privy remains outside the school may indicate the presence of archaeological evidence that documents the early stages in the evolution of sanitary facilities from separate outdoor privies to indoor water closets.
The evolution of sanitary facilities is a subject often ignored in architectural description of buildings, but frequently documented and sought after in archaeological studies. Detailed analysis of the contents of privies, trash deposits, and sheet refuse patterns may contribute important information relating to educational methods and techniques used at the school and the social, cultural, and economic characteristics of students at the school and local Burlington population. (end) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No. 10240818 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9 Page_ 1 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Major Bibliographical References Barnard, Henry, Practical Illustrations of the Principles of School Architecture, Hartford, 1851. Burlington Police Force, Scrapbook.
Dunham, Lolla, C. R., Edited by Zahora, Robert W., Burlington Historical Commission, Burlington, 1998. Fogleberg, John "Ed", "Burlington Past and Present" Daily Times and Chronicle: "Center School Had a Stormy Start" ', July 31, 1979. "The History of a Museum", Feb. 8, 1983. Nov. 1, 1988. "Burlington Public Library", May 6, 1990. Jan. 2, 1991 (photograph). "The Building with Four Lives", Aug. 20, 1991. June 8, 1993 July 31,1999. Fogleberg, John E., Burlington: Part of a Greater Chronicle, Burlington Historical Commission, Burlington, 1976. Goff, John, Historic Preservation Survey of Burlington: Narrative Report, Burlington, 1999. Goff, John, Building B Form #11, 13 Bedford St., Historic Preservation Survey of Burlington, Burlington, 1999. Kelley, Beverly Allison, Lexington: A Century of Photographs, Lexington Historical Society, Boston, 1980.
Mann, Horace, First Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education, Dutton and Wentworth, Boston, 1838. Mann,Horace, Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education, Supplementary to the First Annual Report, Dutton and Wentworth, Boston, 1838. Mann, Horace, Sixth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education, Supplementary to the First Annual Report, Dutton and Wentworth, Boston, 1843. Mann, Horace, Tenth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education, Supplementary to the First Annual Report, Dutton and Wentworth, Boston, 1847.
Public Broadcasting System, School: The Story of American Education, "Horace Mann", http://pbs.org/kcet/publicschool/innovators/mann.html (continued) NPS Form1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 9/10 Page_ 2/1 OMB Approval No. 10240018 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA jimpson, Uu .r eane u ress, kay miea ive Archietural Material 8. Town of Burlington, Annual Report, "School Committee Reports", 1855, 1874 Maps and Atlases 1794 Samuel Thompson, Plan of Woburn ca. 1875 ,a3.1 Midlesers Antas oridfleserenoorty, sill map singe pag ca. 1889 Walling Atlas of Middlesex County, single page (end) 10.
Verbal Boundary Description The boundaries of the Center School are the lot lines described for 13 Bedford Street on the Burlington Assessors Map dated 1969, revised 2000 as Map 29, Lot 143. Boundary Justification The boundaries of Lot 29-143 represent the extent of current and apparently historic municipal ownership. (end) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number photo Page_ OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 - Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA The following information is the same for all photographs: 1. Name 2. Address 3. Photographer 4. Date of Photograph 5.
Negative Location Center School 13 Bedford Street Burlington, MA Heli Meltsner April 14, 2004: Massachusetts Historical Commission 220 Morrissey Boulevard Boston, MA 02125 # Resource Exterior: North & East elevations Exterior: West & North elevations Exterior South & East elevations Exterior Door detail Interior: Main Rm. North wall Interior: East & South walls Basement: shutters Looking SW NE NW S NE SW SE W Roll 88016 88016 88016 37049 37049 37049 37049 37049 Neg. # 26 24 25 11 3 10 6 5 NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page_ OMB Approval No. 10240818 Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA DATA SHEET Historic Name Center School building Weathervane Flag Pole Vigneau Memorial Date 1855 1855 ca.
1967 1992 Status Style Italianate Resource C C NC NC B stone Contributing buildings Contributing objects Noncontributing objects 1 1 2 NITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIO ATIONAL PARK SERVIC NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Center School NAME: MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex 5/09/06 6/21/06 REFERENCE NUMBER: 06000523 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 6/06/06 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 6/22/06 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER: REQUEST: N PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: VACCEPT RETURN ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS: REJECT 6.21-O6DATE Butered in the Nomonal Rodcegs RECOM./ CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE TELEPHONE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, the nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.
NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service - 06000523 RECEIVED 2280 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 OCT 28 2011 National Register of Historic Places NAT. REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Continuation Sheet NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Center School Burlington (Middlesex), MA Section number 10 Page 1 The coordinates originally provided for the Center School were 19 315100 4707940. The correct location is 2.7 miles due East of this point at 19 319516 4707940 (North American Datum 1927).
Corrected March 2009 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTATION PROPERTY NAME: Center School MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: 10/28/11 DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: REFERENCE NUMBER: 06000523 12/13/11 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N OTHER: REQUEST: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: SAMPLE: - SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: Additional Documentation Approved REVIEWER DISCIPLINE Nist TELEPHONE DATE 12:9.1l DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N If a nomination is returned to the nominating authority, the nomination is no longer under consideration by the NPS.
BURLINGTON PUBLICMUSEUY CENTER SCHOOL BURLiNGTON, MA PHOTO #1. CENTER SCIOOL BURLINGTON, MA PHOTo # 2 CENTER SCHOOL BURLINGrON, MA PHOTO # 3 BURLINGTON PUBLIC MUSEUM 1975 BURLING TON HISTORICAL MUSEUM 1855- HOOL-LIBRA CENTER SCHOOL BURLINGTON, MA PHOTO # 4 CENTER SCHOOL BURLINGTON, MA PHOTO # 5 B CENTER SCHOOL BURLINGTON, MA. PHOTO #6 CENTER SUHOOL BURLINGTON, MA PHOTO #7 BRIGHT-COPY PAPER THU TRONNE 20T FRAGILE Perma Products Perma SQUEEZAMATIC 03345 CENTER SCHOOL BURLINGTON, MA PHOTO #g RECEIVED 2280 MAY cuub BY LE NAL KEGISTEK OF HISTORIC PLACE The Commonwealth of Massachusetts * NATIONAL PARK SERVIC William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission April 13, 2006 Dr. John Roberts National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW, 8" floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Dr.
Roberts: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Center School, 13 Bedford St., Burlington (Middlesex), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. The owners of the property were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30 to 45 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Betsy tredtiey Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure CC: Heli Meltsner, consultant Gary Gianino, Board of Selectmen Norman Biggart, Toni Faria, Burlington Historical Commission Chair, Burlington Planning Board 220 Morrissey Boulevard. Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc RECEIVED 2280 LIVA LIBERANTD OCT 28 2011 IAT.
REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE ATONAL PARK SERVIC The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission October 20, 2011 Mr. J. Paul Loether National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service 1201 Eye Street, NW 8* floor Washington, DC 20005 Dear Mr. Loether: Re: Additional Documentation (Technical corrections of UTMs) In the process of mapping National Register nominations for our GIS database, we have identified errors in UTM coordinates for 23 properties. The errors vary from a few hundred feet to hundreds of miles, often due to transposition of numbers. As recommended by Edson Beall, we are enclosing a continuation sheet for each of the nominations. Please let me know if you need more information in order to correct your records.
Sincerely, Betay treheg Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosures 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.state.ma.us/sec/mhc
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