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): HPCA 15975 Primary location of additional data: - preliminary determination of individual listing (36 x State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency - previously listed in the National Register - Federal agency - previously determined eligible by the National x Local government Register - University - designated a National Historic Landmark - Other - recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository #. Boston Landmarks Commission _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page _1 NARRATIVE STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Joshua Bates School, located at 731 Harrison Avenue in the South End neighborhood of Boston, retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, association, and workmanship. It is architecturally significant as a well-preserved example of late 19**- century, Romanesque Revival-style, scholastic architecture. It is historically significant for its associations with the development of Boston's South End, and the development of Boston's educational system in the late 19* and early 20 centuries, as well as its association with architect Arthur H. Vinal, who designed many prominent buildings both downtown and in significant suburban neighborhoods of Boston.
It is named for Joshua Bates, an influential and innovative schoolmaster of the Boston Public School system. As such, the Joshua Bates School is eligible on the local level for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under criteria A and C. Boston's South End includes the narrow "neck," which originally connected Boston in the Shawmut Peninsula to the town of Roxbury on the mainland, and filled marshland that expanded the isthmus to both the north and south. The South End was developed between 1850 and 1873 as an attractive, residential neighborhood of attached, single-family rowhouses. Social changes in the neighborhood after the Panic of 1873 resulted in the conversion of rowhouses to boardinghouses, initiated multifamily construction, and broadened land-use patterns to include commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings.
Early rowhouses, sometimes clustered around parks, generally survived on the side streets. But of the major thoroughfares, they were joined or replaced by churches and apartment houses. Institutional and industrial buildings typically clustered at fringe locations. Northern Harrison Avenue sits on "neck lands" located at the original (1630) west shoreline of South Boston Bay, immediately south of Boston Neck. This area was filled by a number of projects beginning in the early 19 century. This section of Harrison Avenue (originally Front Street, renamed in April 1841. following the death of President William Henry Harrison) was built between 1831 and 1833 on existing but marshy land. Development of the area had been promoted as early as 1801 in a street plan attributed to Charles Bulfinch.
It began only after connections to the main city on the Shawmut Peninsula, originally limited to Orange (later Washington) Street, were improved. In-fill projects during the early 1830s extended Tremont Street through the Back Bay (which formed the west shore of the "Neck Lands") and in 1835-36 extended this section of Front Street/Harrison Avenue north to the South Boston Bridge (now East Berkeley Street). By the 1830s. the neck widened with created land accommodated four parallel highways: Tremont Street, Suffolk Street (Shawmut Avenue), Washington Street, and Front Street (Harrison Avenue). Newly laid-out city lands were sold at auction. Development of the South End proceeded slowly. In the late 1840s, the area achieved some residential promise in attracting homeowners interest in larger lots than were available in older parts of the city.
Beacon Hill was quickly being covered with solid blocks. Rising land values on Summer Street promoted conversion of residential land to commercial uses. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page2 Major filling of the area east of Harrison Avenue began in 1845, when the South Bay Lands Project was nitiated to create attractive, new residential areas within the city. The intent was to counter an anticipate oss of middle-class Yankees voters and taxpayers who, it was feared, would flee to the suburbs to the huge influx of Irish immigrants that began in the 1840s.
By 1846, the city's Commission for Public Lands controlled all the land and flats bounded by present-day Malden Street, Harrison Avenue, Massachusetts Avenue (formerly Chester Street), and a line devised by the harbor commissioners in South Bay. Improvements were made to these public lands in the 1850s. Sewer lines were built, streets were graded, and residential squares laid out. A varied street plan with modest-sized blocks was devised to stimulate sales. The combination of deed restrictions governing building size, materials and plans, and the preference of developers for substantial projects of attached, single-family rowhouses for sale to owner/occupants resulted in architectural uniformity in design and scale. Streets and squares were built up, nearly always with architecturally unified but reserved, three- and four-story, brick, single-family rowhouses.
In 1856, convenient transportation was added to the South End when the Metropolitan Railroad began to operate horse-drawn streetcars between Roxbury and Scollay Square in downtown Boston. Beginning in the 1850s, growth became more rapid. The region filled with symmetrical blocks of red brick and brownstone houses with mansard roofs along avenues intersected by cross streets that occasionally included tree-shaded squares and parks enclosed by cast-iron fences. About 67 acres of new land has been created by the time the South end project was completed in 1862. Unlike the commissioner's plan for a new residential area, however, the section south of East Brookline Street, between Albany Street and the channel became the location of many city facilities including the paving, internal health, sewer, and water departments.
The area between Albany Street and Harrison Avenue was developed by institutions such as Boston City Hospital. In the 1860s, additional land was filled to eliminate unsightly and odorous flats both in Back Bay and between Tremont Street and the tracks of the Boston & Providence Railroad. Between 1868 and 1870, Columbus Avenue was laid out on this new property along the western shore of the neck land In the third quarter of the 19#* century, building was almost continual in the South End. Business blocks and institutional development, particularly that related to the immigrant-driven, fast- growing Roman Catholic Diocese, expanded into the area. The Church of the Immaculate Conception (1861, designed by Patrick Keeley of Brooklyn), Boston College, and the Catholic Children's Home were built on Harrison Avenue close to the site of the Bates School.
The Cathedral of the Holy Cross (1867, also designed by Keeley) was erected on the corner of Washington and Waltham streets. A number of Protestant churches also moved to the South End (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page 3 The South End, however, never realized its status as a truly fashionable residential district. The wealthiest Bostonians increasingly chose the Back Bay or the suburbs. Many of the business class followed, even if they had to sell their South End properties to do so. Columbus Avenue was built up with more modest homes than those on older streets.
During the Panic of 1873, many dwellings were lost to banks and quickly resold to speculators who converted them to lodging houses. The panic was an acute drop in value and a diminution of the character of the immediate vicinity. The trend toward multifamily housing also accelerated through the 1880s. Working class and immigrant populations moved in as Boston experienced expansive growth between 1880 and 1910. Toward the end of the century, numerous four- or five-story high masonry apartment houses were constructed to help house the city's increasingly disparate population, but large, more ornate apartment buildings for affluent tenants were also erected along some of the major thoroughfares. Smaller apartment blocks were built for working- class tenants on side streets and underdeveloped sections. Both types of housing often included first-floor storefronts.
By 1900, the South End was a cosmopolitan area with a diverse population. Although subsequent conversions and the development of less expensive houses reflected these socio- economic changes, the South End remained a cohesive area of quality architecture. Conversions of existing residences to boardinghouses were accomplished with little exterior alteration. The Joshua Bates School was constructed as a primary school in 1884 on a city-owned lot at a cost of $48,655.75. It was named by the school committee to honor the well-known master of the Winthrop School in Charlestown, who became the first grammar master of the Brimmer School (not extant, 16 Common Street, see below). The school population of the city had increased by 45% during the 1870s. Construction of the school was attributed to mason Frank Jones and carpenters Hamilton & Parker.
The firm of Frank Jones and Sons, Contractors and Builder, is listed in the 1884 Boston City Directory as being located at 79 Dover Street, also noted as the residence of the owner. Hamilton and Parker may refer to the firm Hamilton and Park, recorded in the same directory as a ship joiner at 86 Border Street. Principals are identified as John J. Hamilton, of 1123 Trenton Street, East Boston, and Robert T. Park, 310 Saratoga Street. Primary schools were established in Boston in 1818 to educate students between the ages of four and eleven. Despite the objections of the school committee and selectmen who argued against the expense, these schools were created by a nearly unanimous vote of town meeting in response to public petition. At the time, public schools were closed to illiterates and those less than seven years old. Private dame schools were intended to prepare younger children.
It was argued by those opposed to primary schools that the tuitions at the dame schools were not excessive and that charity schools could provide for those students unable to pay. Still, it became known that several hundred children under age seven did not attend school, could not read and write, and thereby would be excluded from public school. Many eminent and influential persons, including educators and tradesmen, supported the effort to create primary schools. Their arguments prevailed before town meeting. An appropriation of $5,000 was made to create these schools. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 .
Page 4 Primary schools were placed under the supervision of a special committee of thirty-six members comprised of three representatives from each city ward appointed by the school committee. In 1855 the Primary School Committee was abolished. Authority over these schools was transferred to the regular School Committee. The distinction between primary and grammar schools remained, however, through the continuation of primary subcommittees. In 1857, primary school education was divided into separate classes and each student was supplied with a separate desk, chair, and slate. Previously, each primary teacher had covered all six classes and carried each pupil in their charge through the whole grammar school course of study.
In 1861, the minimum age for admission to primary schools was increased from four to five years old The first kindergarten as part of the Boston school system was established in 1870. It was believed to be the first free, public kindergarten in the world. It was discontinued in 1879. Modern kindergartens were created in the city in 1888. Private kindergartens functioned outside the system during this interval. Boston Latin School, established in 1635 (opened about three years later), apparently always operated as a six-year secondary school inclusive of grades 7-12. Outside this school, the City of Boston had maintained a course of study since 1870 that included nine years of elementary school (Grades 1-9) and three years of high school (Grades 10-12).
Although suggested as early as 1893 in a report of the National Educational Association, which also recommended the introduction to lower levels of subjects then reserved for study in secondary school, reorganization of the Boston school system into eight years of elementary school and four years of high school did not occur until 1906. Some curricular adjustments did occur beginning in 1894. Traditional secondary subjects were variously introduced into some grammar schools as "enrichment studies," but the experiment did not last. In conjunction with the 1906 reduction from nine to eight grades in elementary schools, the distinction between primary and grammar schools was finally eliminated in Boston. Both were treated as elementary schools as distinguished from high schools, in the reconfigured eight-year elementary, four-year secondary school instruction.
These efforts foreshadowed the concept of intermediate schools, which had also gained popularity in pedagogical circles. In 1913, the superintendent was awarded discretionary authority to modify the course of study for grades 7 and 8 in designated schools, particularly to include the study of foreign languages. In 1915 the superintendent proposed including the ninth grade in such intermediate classes. Intermediate councils, first instituted in 1913 to organize and coordinate the introduction of foreign languages into elementary schools, became agencies advocating the development of intermediate schools. Other councils, initiated for the study of English, mathematics, and science, issue reports and courses of study for these subjects in 1915 and 1916.
Councils were subsequently created for additional subjects, including history, geography, Latin, commercial courses and pre-vocational work. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page5 In 1917, the School Committee recognized intermediate schools (Grades 7-9) as an integral part of the system, but such schools did not immediately exist in all districts of the city. The school system was re- devised to consist of six years of primary or elementary education followed by six years of secondary education, the latter being divided into three years of intermediate school and three years of senior-high instruction.
School buildings themselves were not routinely defined by such divisions. Listings in the records of the school department note schools with multiple variations in grade structure, including schoolhouses that accommodated grades 1-6, 1-8, and 6-9. The Joshua Bates School remained a primary school throughout its existence. Typically, it housed kindergarten through the third grade classes. Elementary schools were organized by districts or divisions administered by division masters who were the masters or principals of the district elementary school. The Joshua Bates School was located in the fifth or Dwight School Division. Miriam Sterne, a third-grade teacher at the Bates School when it opened, became First Assistant while continuing to teach grade 3 at least through 1920. Other teachers with longstanding postings at the school were: Mary Ranney (ca. 1902-1920), Sara Mock (ca.
1902-1930), Georgianna E. MacBride (ca. 1902- 1920), and Mary H. Frueau (ca. 1902-1920). By the turn of the 20** century, the South End had switched from an area predominately of private residences to one including many multifamily dwellings. Apartment houses were being built on sites cleared of original rowhouses. One of the largest, the Bretagne (1897, extant, 492-498 Massachusetts Avenue), a seven-story apartment building of yellow brick with limestone trim, ground-floor storefronts, and ornate, pressed-metal bay windows and cornice, was also designed by Arthur H. Vinal. Other middle- class dwellings include four-family brick houses. Even smaller-scale tenement houses, typically on Shawmut Avenue and side streets in the vicinity, share architectural elements of the middle-class apartments.
Turn-of-the-20* century immigrant groups included Germans, Irish, Central European Jews, Armenians, and Greeks, who formed religious congregations that adapted existing church buildings or constructed new edifices. Subsequent immigrant inhabitants of the South End have included Chinese, Puerto Rican, Lebanese, and other groups. Overpopulation and diminished economic conditions in the South End led to a recognition by private and public organizations of the need for additional social services. In 1900 the Boston School board offered the Joshua Bates School to the Guild of St. Elizabeth for use in the second session of its summer program of "play schools." The Guild was organized in 1899 by Rev. Thomas I. Gaston, S.J. of the Immaculate Conception Church.
This association of young women ran several social programs for women and children, with a primary emphasis on girls "in the crowded wards of the South End of Boston." An average of more than 200 girls attended the sessions six days a week over eight weeks. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page6 In 1901, the playground of the Joshua Bates School was utilized by the Boston School Committee as part of its Vacation Schools program. The next year, the playground was included in a program of three "sand gardens" in the Vacation Schools program.
Free Vacation Schools, initiated twenty-five years earlier under private auspices, had been considered so successful in occupying students during the summer that the school board appropriated funds in 1899 for an experimental program of its own. In 1902, the publicly funded project included seven schools and three gardens. Together with the privately supported vacation schools (also held in Boston public school buildings), 15,000 students were occupied during six weeks over the summer. Architect of the Bates School, Arthur Hoard Vinal (b. Quincy, MA, 1854; d. W. Harpswell, ME, 1923) was a prominent, versatile, and prolific Boston architect. At the time he designed the Bates School, he was municipal architect for the City of Boston. In 1874 he was hired by the then newly organized firm of Peabody and Stearns.
Encouraged by the quick success of his employer, Vinal left within a couple of years to open his own firm with Henry F. Sawbuck and Sawbuck & Vinal, which operated from offices at 639 Washington Street in Boston from 1876 to 1878 Designs in 1877 for the Methodist Church in Farmington, Maine, and an addition to the home of Samuel S. Raddle at 60 Elm Street, Jamaica Plain, Boston, are the only known commissions for Sawbuck & Vinal. The collaboration disbanded when Sawbuck moved to Saint John, NB. An important early commission for Vinal was the Mount Kineo House Hotel (ca. 1882-83; not extant) on Moosehead Lake in Maine. An enormous, eclectic, Queen Anne/Stick Style frame lodge, conceived as the finest resort in New England, it earned him renown and led to his appointment as City Architect of Boston, in which position he served from 1884 to 1888. Arthur H.
Vinal was the third to hold this position in a department established in 1874 by the city in an attempt to reduce building costs. Though politically appointed by mayoral administrations, which at the time faced annual elections, occupants of the office of City Architect were exceptionally qualified and often remained employed through the tenure of several executives. Eventually, the costs of maintaining permanent staff proved more expensive that putting projects out to bid. In addition, accusations of political and professional favoritism became common. The office was abolished in 1895. During his tenure as City Architect, Arthur Vinal designed at least 11 schools, three fire stations, a police station, two police stables, a home for indigent women, a dormitory for nurses, a pumping station and dwelling for a reservoir project, a gate house, and a bridge for the Parks Department.
He also made several proposals for a new Boston Public Library, all of which lost to the masterful Classical Revival design of McKim, Mead & White. Vinal's preference for elements of the Romanesque Revival are found in many of his buildings, including the Joshua Bates School. A cupola or conical-roofed tower that merges with the main pediment and pushes the arched main entry off-center is typical. Engaged towers and/or off-center entries are found on five of the Boston buildings that he designed between 1884 and 1890. (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page7 Around 1892, Arthur H. Vinal entered a second partnership. His association with George F.
Tracy, however, was equally-short lived. For most of his life he worked alone. In addition to municipal buildings, Vinal designed churches, hotels, theatres, libraries, apartment blocks, urban rowhouses, and freestanding suburban residences. He is credited with one of the first skyscrapers erected in Boston - the 12-story apartment building at 48 Beacon Street. The building is credited with triggering Boston's first-in-the-nation height restriction legislation and the enactment of zoning designations to distinguish business and residential districts. Vinal's residential designs include late Victorian and Colonial Revival, middle-class, suburban houses along Melville and Allston Avenues in Dorchester.
Two apartment buildings designed by Vinal - The Colonial (382 Commonwealth Avenue, 1895) and The Torrington (384-388 Commonwealth Avenue, 1896-1899) - were among the earliest to be built in Boston. Arthur H. Vinal designed the Robert B. Brigham Hospital and worked for the Robert B. Brigham Estate. Robert Breck Brigham, nephew of Peter Bent Brigham, was a wealthy restaurateur. Following the example of his uncle, he founded the Robert Breck Brigham Hospital for Incurables in 1914 to treat those with chronic or incurable diseases. Gradually, the hospital focused on rheumatic diseases and became the first teaching hospital (affiliated with Harvard University) entirely devote to arthritis-related diseases. Arthur H. Vinal also worked for the Washington B. Thomas Estate.
He designed the lodge house at the base of the Bunker Hill Monument in Charlestown (extant, NHL) and opera houses in Augusta and Bangor, Maine. Joshua Bates Jr. (b. Dedham, MA, March 17, 1810; d. Beverly, MA, June 25, 1888), for whom the school was named, was the son of a Dedham Congregational minister who became president of Middlebury College. Having received his preparatory and classical education in that Vermont town, Joshua Bates, Jr., graduated from college in 1832. In Boston, Bates spent ten or eleven years as a teacher and/or master at the Training Field School at Winthrop Square in Charlestown. At the opening of the Brimmer School in 1844 (not extant), under the double-headmaster system, he was chosen grammar master of the school with William A. Shepard as writing master. He became sole master in 1847 and served 32 or 33 years in total before resigning in 1876.
Under the direction of Joshua Bates, whose pedagogical approach relied on encouragement rather than corporal punishment, the Brimmer School, initially exclusive to boys, became known as a model school. By demanding a daily report from each teacher revealing the student involved, the reason for and type of punishment, and its apparent effect, Bates succeeded in reducing the number of physically punitive incident by 70% in one month. The individual interest he took in his pupils, and the moral education and academic training he advanced are credited with engendering reverence for him among the students and encouraging many to lives of prominence and distinction. A large assembly of current students and graduates of the Brimmer School, teachers, and other schoolmasters was held in his honor the year after Joshua Bates retired. During theevent, a portrait of Mr.
Bates was presented to the city to be hung in the school. In 1900, the newspaper column "Notes on the South End" by William Parker Jones recalled that (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page 8 due to his opposition to corporal punishment, Joshua Bates was at first ignored by the existing masters in Boston. Jones credited Bates' influence, however, for the eventual abolition of corporal punishment in Boston schools. Long after his death, former students of the Brimmer School continued to honor the memory of Joshua Bates. In 1908, speakers at the annual reunion of the Brimmer School Association, former in 1878 of ormer graduates, referred to Joshua Bates with affection.
Upon his own retirement in 1906, Quincy A Dickerman, a subsequent master of the Brimmer School, referred to Joshua Bates as "among the foremos Boston masters of the last century." The obituary of E. Bentley Young, a second submaster of the Brimmer School under Joshua Bates, referred to Bates as "Boston's leading grammar schoolmaster" at that time. The Joshua Bates School was closed by the Boston Public Schools Department on November 24, 1975. Its abandonment before 1970 (listed among 81 school buildings designated for closing by 1975) had been recommended in a 1962 study entitled "A Report on the Schools of Boston" which had been undertaken to integrate urban renewal plans with school revitalization plans. This effort completed by Harvard University became known as the "Sargent Report" in reference to the director of the team, Cyril G. Sargent.
The specified criteria for evaluating school buildings were educational stability, age and type of structure, degree of deterioration, location in the relation to population patterns, and fire safety. The Capital Improvement Program entitled "Renewing Boston's Municipal Facilities" (1963/1975), adopted by the Boston Redevelopment Authority the following year, relied heavily on the Sargent Report in its consideration of the disposition of school buildings. Elementary districts remained organized by neighborhood districts with several buildings under the aegis of one principal who determined the grade structure of each building and student assignment guidelines.
Part of the judgment in determining the fate of school property was its adaptability toward the goal of creating a unified structure throughout the system of grammar schools to include kindergarten to Grade 5, middle schools to encompass Grades 6 through 8, and high schools comprised of Grades 9 through 12. The organization was inhibited by the excess number of very small schools. In 1966, four schools were reorganized as middle schools, an action considered the first step toward re-institution of the four-year high The Act for the Elimination of Racial Imbalance in Public Schools (M.G.L. chap. 71, sections 37C and 37D), which passed in 1965, resulted in a complete re-evaluation of previous facility planning.
It required school committees to devise plans to eliminate racial imbalance (any excess of 50% in non-white students as determined by annual census and report) in any public school and a commitment and plan for racial balance at any proposed new facility. By the fourth year of the law's enactment, the city's third and fourth Racial Imbalance Plans had not been approved by the State Board of Education. At the same time, Boston schools were increasingly becoming racially imbalanced with an elementary population approximately 36% non-white. Discussions, proposals (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page9 and counter proposals between the School Committee and the State Board of Education ordered implementation of a "Revised Short Term Plan to Reduce Racial Imbalance in the Boston Public Schools," which called for major redistricting of the school system. The plan was upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court on December 29, 1973. Boston was ordered to comply. This state plan made no recommendation for school closure. It did create attendance zones in which the number of students would be considerably fewer than the existing capacity of facilities in the district. Elementary schools were also recognized so that all were to have a K-5 structure, leaving schools that could not accommodate these changes susceptible to closing.
Arguments in Federal court occurred concurrent to the State Department of Education's attempts to enforce the Racial Imbalance Law. These Federal proceedings resulted on June 21, 1974, in a finding by Judge J. Arthur Garrity that practices of the Boston Public Schools, in violation of the 14* Amendment, had resulted in denial of equal protection under the law for black children, and therefore the Boston School System was unconstitutionally segregated. Thereafter, federal court orders controlled decisions on school facilities for the next several years. Court order directed that the State Plan be implemented during 1974, while a permanent plan should be developed for the entire city. Subsequent orders revised the list of planned construction projects and reviewed projected closings. Facilities closed in 1974 under the Short Term Plan were not reopened.
Twenty schools were ordered permanently closed no later than August 30, 1975 "to enable and maintain desegregation through the consolidation of student bodies." The Joshua Bates School was included in this group. The court ruling read: The decisions to close these facilities were made after consideration of their location in areas of excess seating capacity at the elementary level, of their condition and presence on various lists of schools recommended for closing in the past and of equity in the burden of school closing among districts and among ethnic groups. The Boston Redevelopment Authority assumed ownership late in 1976. The same year, the school and adjoining parking area were licensed to Here-in Our Motives Evolve, Inc.
(ada HOME, Inc.) a community- based, non profit organization that managed the school as the Bates Art Resource Center, which subleased studio, gallery, theatre, and office space for artists. In 2000, HOME, Inc. was awarded a Massachusetts Preservation Projects Fund matching grant from the Massachusetts Historical Commission for a feasibility study for the rehabilitation of the Joshua Bates School. In May 2003, the Boston Redevelopment Authority issues a Request for Proposals for three parcels entitled the Harrison Avenue Project. Included in the site was the lot of the Joshua Bates School (R-10B, 19,972 s.f.) and contiguous parcels to the east (R-10A, 9,236 s.f.) and west (R-1OC, 6,277 s.f.). The properties became the first city-sponsored project specifically geared for artists. The site was made available to (continued) NPS Form 10-900 (Rev.
10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 8 Page10 developers in a Request for Proposals. Expressed goals for the project were the rehabilitation of the Bates School to continue as affordable artists' work space, cultural management, theatre and/or retail space, plus development of the adjoining parcels to create affordable artists' residential and work space with underground parking. New Atlantic Development Corp. was designated developer in November 2003.
As part of the project named ARTBLOCK 731, the Joshua Bates School underwent a certified rehabilitation, which focused on repair of the building fabric, upgrade of life-safety and electrical systems, compliance with building code requirements and provision of universal access and restroom facilities. New construction on the adjacent land consists of two new, five-story buildings, ARTBLOCK East and ARTBLOCK West. ARTBLOCK East includes four, two-story condominiums and twenty-three loft needs of artists at a price affordable to artists' households earning up to 80% of the area median income. (end) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number_9 Page1 MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Maps Bromley, George W. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay, from actual surveys and official plans by George W. Bromley. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1874. Bromley, George W. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay, from actual surveys and official plans by George W. Bromley. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1883. Bromley, George W. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay,from actual surveys and official plans by George W. Bromley. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1895. 1908, 1917, Bromley, George W.
Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay, from actual surveys and official plans by George W. Bromley. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1908. Bromley, George W. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay, from actual surveys and offficial plans by George W. Bromley. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley & Co., 1917. Bromley, George W. and Walter S. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley and Co., 1928. Bromley, George W. and Walter S. Atlas of the City of Boston: Boston Proper and Back Bay. Philadelphia: G. W. Bromley and Co., 1938 Primary Sources Appendix. Documents of the School Committee of the City of Boston for the Year 1900. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1900. Appendix.
Ding onenc, of the School Commiltee of the City of Boston for the Year 1901, Boston: Municipal Appendisling Olincs, 1 the School Committe of the City of Boston for the Yoar 1902, Boston: Municipall The Boston Directory, 1884. Boston: Sampson, Davenport & Co., 1884. The Boston Globe. January 28, 1906, p. SM 12. BostonFamilyHistory.com 2/4/2005. Boston Public Schools Personnel Directory, 1973. City of Boston Printing Section, 1973. on file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number_9 Page 2 Boston Redevelopment Authority. Request for Proposals: Harrison Avenue Project. May 2003.
Building permits for 731 Harrison Avenue. On file at the Boston Inspectional Services Department. 101 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1887. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1887. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1902. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1902. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1906. Boston; Municipal Printing Office, 1906. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1907. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1907. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts.
Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1920. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1920. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1930. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1930. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1941. Boston: Municipal Printing Office, 1941. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1949. Boston: City of Boston Printing Department, 1949. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1956. Boston: Administrative Services Department, Printing Section, 1956.
On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1960. Boston: Administrative Services Department, Printing Section, 1960. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Manual of the Public Schools in the City of Boston, 1965. Boston: City of Boston Printing Section, 1965. On file at the Boston City Archives, 201 Rivermoor Street, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. Obituary, Arthur H. Vinal. Boston Evening Transcript, Saturday August 25, 1923 Original Plans, "City of Boston Joshua Bates School, Harrison Avenue Boston." Massachusetts Archives. Columbia Point, Dorchester, Mass. (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number 9 Page 3 Superintendent's Report. Documents of the School Committee of the City of Boston for the Year 1883. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill, City Printers, 1883. Secondary Sources Chandler, Francis Ward. Municipal Architecture In Boston. Boston: Bates & Guild Co., 1898. Damrell, Charles S. A Half Century of Boston 's Buildings. Boston: Louis P. Hager, 1895. Goff, John V. "Arthur H. Vinal 1854-1923." Biographical Dictionary of Architects in Maine. Vol. II, No. 4 Augusta: Maine Historic Preservation Commission, 1985. Shand-Tucci, Douglas. Built in Boston: City and Suburb, 1800-1950. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1988. Seasholes, Nancy S.
Gaining Ground: A History of Landmaking in Boston. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003. Wheelwright, Edmund M. School Architecture. Boston: The Barta Press, 1901. Massachusetts Historical Commission Records Comprehensive Survey Project Report. Washington Street, South End, Boston MA. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. South End District, Boston MA, 1973. National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. Bowditch School, Boston MA, 1990. (end) Joshua Bates House Name of Property 10. Geographical Data Acreage of Property _Less than 1 Acre UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1. Zone 19 2. Zone Easting 329360 Northing 4689300 EastingR Northing 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_Dianne L. Siergiej, preservation consultant organization_Massachusetts Historical Commission street & number 220 Morrissey Blvd city or town_ Boston _state MA Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets _Suffolk, MA County and State 3. Zone 4. Zone Easting Easting - See continuation sheet Northing Northing telephone . _ zip code. _ date June 2008 617-727-8470 02125 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 street & number Bates Arts Center Limited Partnership c/o New Atlantic Development Corp. 59 Temple Place Suite 1000 _telephone. 617/338-7600 city or town Boston .state MA _ Zip code 02111 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; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503. NPS Form 1 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Joshua Bates School Boston (South End) (Suffolk), MA Section number10 Page_1_ 10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Verbal Boundary Description The National Register of Historic Places boundaries of the property of the Joshua Bates School at 731 Harrison Avenue, Boston, are as drawn on the enclosed map entitled Assessors Lot, Post Construction Conditions, Joshua Bates School/ART BLOCK 731, Boston. The boundary has been drawn on the original lot lines in the front and rear of the building. At the front (southeast) of the new assessors lot 0801361005, the National Register of Historic Places boundary follows the existing property line along Harrison Avenue the full length of the remaining, original, brick retaining wall. The boundary at each end of the wall then turns 90 degrees to run 10 feet beyond the wall, then turns 90 degrees again to meet the arbitrary line drawn at 10 feet from the plane of each side elevation at its widest.
On the rear of the lot (northwest, alley boundary), the National Register boundaries follows the original, existing property line behind the building extending to the northeast to a point seventeen feet beyond the northeast corner of the building and extending to the southwest to a point ten feet beyond the northwest corner of the building. There at each side, it meets a line of convenience, drawn ten feet beyond the widest portion of the schoolhouse on each side elevation. An updated assessors map from the City of Boston assessors office is not yet available.
Boundary Justification Because of new parcel lines that combine the original assessors lot of the Joshua Bates School with adjoining lots into a single parcel to accommodate new construction, the National Register of Historic Places property line has been drawn to encompass the original building, stairways and retaining wall of the school property. It has been set to run, as designated above, along original property lines of the school building on the Harrison Avenue and Public Alley No.
710 boundaries, provide a ten-foot buffer behind the retaining wall, and then extend ten feet from the plane of each side elevation of the (end) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Joshua Bates School NAME: MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Suffolk DATE RECEIVED: 7/09/08 DATE OF 16TH DAY: 8/12/08 DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: 7/28/08 8/22/08 REFERENCE NUMBER: 08000793 REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER : N PDIL: N PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: Y NATIONAL: COMMENT WAIVER: N VACCEPT RETURN REJECT 8/27/2008 DATE ABSTRACT/ SUMMARY COMMENTS : N N N RECOM.
/ CRIFERTA Accept AiC REVIEWER tatrick Andrus DISCIPLINE_ Histarian TELEPHONE - DATE 8/22/2008 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. Photo No. 1 Facade (southeast) and northeast elevation Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 2 Facade (southeast) and northeast elevation Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 3 Facade (southeast) Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts 72500NOS Sa :Vas5u TU0- Photo No. 4 Off center gable and main entry, facade (southeast) Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts OSHCA B TESTS CHOOL Photo No.
5 Facade detail Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 6 Main entry, facade (southeast) Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 7 Facade (southeast) and northeast elevation Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 8 Northeast elevation and partial view rear (northwest) elevation Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County. Massachusetts Photo No. 9 Rear (northwest) and southwest elevations Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts Photo No. 10 Southwest elevation Joshua Bates School 731 Harrison Avenue Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts RECEIVED 2280 JUL 09 2008 AT.
REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACE ATIONAL PARK SERVIC The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission July 7, 2008 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: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Joshua Bates School, 731 Harrison Ave., Boston (Suffolk), 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 in the Certified Local Government community of Boston were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 90 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment.
Sincerely, Ketty Fuedheig National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure cc: Dianne Siergiej Kathryn McLaughlin, Boston CLG coordinator Thomas Menino, Mayor, City of Boston Susan Pranger, Boston Landmarks Commission Bates Arts Center LP, New Atlantic Development Corp. 220 Morrissey Boulevard. Boston, Massachusetts 02125 (617) 727-8470 - Fax: (617) 727-5128 www.sec.state.ma.us/mhc
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