Nomination for Ronan, Mary, T., School

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (7-81) OMB NO.1024-0018 EXP. 10/31/84 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries-complete applicable sections 1. Name For NPS use only received 0CT 27 1982 date entered historic Bradstreet Avenue School and/or common 2. Location Mary T. Ronan School (preferred) street & number 154 Bradstreet Avenue N/A not for publication city, town Revere N/A vicinity of songreosional districk 7th state Massachusetts 3.

Classification Category Ownership district - public X building(s) X private _ structure both site Public Acquisition object N/A in process being considered code 025 county Suffolk code 025 Status X occupied unoccupied work in progress Accessible - yes: restricted yes: unrestricted no Present Use _ agriculture commercial educational entertainment government industrial - military museum park X - private residence _ religious _ scientific transportation _ other: 4. Owner of Property name street & number Beachmont Apartment Associates, c/o Elaine B. Finbury 18 Crowninshield Street city, town Peabody N/A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Suffolk CountyRegistry of Deeds street & number Pemberton Square city, town Boston state Massachusetts 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets title of the Commonwealth, #6 12/3/80 has this property been determined eligible? X yes no date 1978 federal X _ state - county local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town Boston state Massachusetts 7. Description Mary T. Ronan Schoo1,154 Bradstreet Ave., Revere, MA Condition _excellent - good _ fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one X unaltered _ altered Check one X original site moved date NA Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Mary T. Ronan School is a 2½ story brick building constructed in a Classical Revival style. The school occupies a half-acre lot in the Beachmont section of Revere, a dense hilltop neighborhood of houses dating from the turn of the century. The Ronan School was built in 1896 as a simple rectangular structure. A smaller T-shaped wing was added to the rear in 1914 and copies the original design. The main block is 2½ stories high plus basement. broken on the facade by a gabled pavilion and by polygonally-capped dormers on the side elevations. Three thin chimneys pierce the roofline. Several horizontal elements articulate the elevations of the Ronan School. A granite foundation and granite stringcourse outline the basement level, while a brick stringcourse and bracketed wooden cornice cap the walls.

Windows are often grauped in threes, a motif reinforced by continuous granite sills on the second story. All the windows have splayed lintels of gauged brick, and those on the first floor are further ornamented by granite keystones. The most striking design element of this building is its central frontispiece. Brick pilasters with plinths and Ionic capitals carved in granite support a gabled roof with dentillated cornice. This 3-story bay is entirely symmetrical. On the first floor, a round-arched doorway is flanked by narrow roundarched windows; a granite keystone ornaments the entrance arch. On the second floor, oval windows with granite keystones flank a pair of rectangular windows which are joined by a continuous granite entablature, on which the original name and date of the school are inscribed (Bradstreet Avenue School,1896). A decorative iron balcony ispans the base.

of these windows. In the gable field, a Palladian motif window features a granite sill, entablature, and keystone. The Ronan School was renovated in 1981 for use as elderly housing, a process certified bythe NationalPark Service for tax act purposes. Major work included restoration of the original entrance design, with its arched glazed transom, and replacement of the original 6 over 6 sash. 8.SignificanceMary T. Ronan School, 154Bradstreet Ave.

Revere, MA Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 .1600-1699 1700-1799 -1800-1899 1900 Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below - archeology-prehistoric - community planning - landscape architecture_ - archeology-historic _ conservation law agriculture _ economics - literature architecture X education _ military art engineering - music commerce - exploration/settlement - philosophy _communications - industry *=politics/government - invention _ religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation other (specify) Specific dates 1896 Builder/Architect N/A Statement of

Statement of significance

/Architect N/A Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The Mary T. Ronan School retains integrity of design, materials, workmanship, setting, and location. The building is associated with the historical development of the Beachmont area of Revere and is a significant example of its architectural type and period; it meets criteria A and C of the National Register. The coastal highlands of Revere were increasingly developed as a summer resort from the mid-19th century on. Early in this period, Beachmont was occupied by tent-dwellers from the surrounding towns of Chelsea, Everett, and Malden during the hot season. By the late l9th century, however, more permanent residential subdivisions were platted. The Boston Land Company had purchased most of the land here and chartered a narrow gauge railroad which connected Beachmont to Boston and Lynn in 1875.

As an inducement to settlement, the Land Company offered to provide for five years a free pass to each property owner building a house worth $2,000.Aboom in both summer and year-round homes the Stick, Second Empire, and Queen Anne styles. B an ucen ame sfeyles. Fingle and mut t-fami ly hones buit in Prame chot houne miti eigile roeo an decae ia 5 two-room building which also housed the community's religious services. A new, wood pressures, however, soon demanded another schoolhouse. The Mary T. Ronan School was built in 1896 for $35,000. This modern, eight-room brick building boasted an assembly hall on the top floor, electric lights, bells, and speaking tubes. Originally known as the Bradstreet Avenue School, the building has since been renamed for one of its early principals, Mary T. Ronan, who was named to the post in 1904.

The Ronan School is the most monumental civic building in Beachmont, and, like most of the town's other institutional buildings, dates from the turn of the century. Al though not of exceptional design significance, the building reflects the picturesque massing and rooflines popular in the Beachmont development. It also typifies popular school design of the period which included masonry construction, two story on high basement height, and blocky form-here enhanced by a relatively elaborate frontispiece. Today the Ronan School is the best preserved structure remaining from its period in this neighborhood. The Mary T. Ronan School has been determined eligible for listing in the National Register by the Department of the Interior, and has recently been recycled into 20 units of elderly housing.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References See attached sheet. 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property 23,163 square feet NØ.6 ACres Winner 8/7/83 Quadrangle name . Lynn, Massachusetts Quadrangle scale UMT References AL19/ 13/316/413,01 Zone Easting 1416/95|415,0 Northing B Zone. E 1:25,000 HLJ LiLud Llil Easting Northing LILLL LLILIL LILILIL 1 uaLL Verbal boundary description and justification See attached deed description. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county code 11. Form Prepared By name/title Wendy Frontiero, Preservation Planner, with Elaine Finbury, Beachmont Associates organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date June 2, 1982 street & number 294 Washington Street telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 12.

State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _ state X local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89- 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service.

State Historic Preservation Officer signature Vauerie Am lalmgge title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission date Oct.20,1982 For NPS use only 1 hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register hen Douyel Keeper of the National Register date Attest: Chief of Registration date NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Mary T. Ronan Schoo1 Item number 9 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 For NPS use only received OCT 27 1982 date entered Page 1 Bibliography Better Schools for Revere, Revere School Study Group, 1954. Fitzmeyer, William, Recollections of Early Days in Beachmont, Revere Public Library, 179 Beach Street, Revere, Massachusetts.

Shaw, Belle, Early Historical Facts About Revere, Revere Public Library, 179 Beach Street, Revere, Massachusetts. Shurtleff, Benjamin, History of the Town of Revere, Bekler Press, Inc., Boston, 1938. Inventory compiled by The Revere Historic Commission, February, 1978. NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Continuation sheet Mary T. Ronan School Item number 10 OMB No. 1024-0018 Exp. 10-31-84 Fer NPS use only OCT 27 1982 received date entered Page 1 Verbal Boundary Description PARCEL #1 (Mary T. Ronan School) NORTHEASTERLY: by Crest Avenue, one hundred ninety (190) feet; SOUTHEASTERLY: by land now or formerly of Ralph and Joanna M. Anderson and K.J.

Realty Trust, one hundred forty-one and sixty one hundredths (141.60) feet; SOUTHWESTERLY: oy Bradstreet Avenue, one hundred twenty-four and seventy-nine one hundredths (124.79) feet; NORTHWESTERLY: by land now or formerly of John Milano and Dominic A. and Rosalie A. SOUTHWESTERLY: Ciambed now or formerly Ciambelli, seventy-four and forty-three one hundredths (74.43) feet; by land now or formerly of the said Ciambellis seventy and three NORTHWESTERLY: one hundredths (70.03) feet; and by land now or formerly of Patrick G. and Rita A. Turner, seventy-six and seventeen hundredths (76.17) feet. Being 23,165 square feet, more or less. Said land and buildings are shown on a "Plan of Land in Revere, Mass. for Crownin- shield Corporation", prepared by James H. MacDowell-Design Consultant and Norman I. Lipsitz, Registered Land Surveyor, dated November 17, 1980 and recorded herewith.

Being the same premises conveyed to the City of Revere by deeds recorded with the Suffolk Registry of Deeds in Book 2350, Page 06 and Book 3920, Page 519. NATIONAL EGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES States Dopartmont of the Intertor National Park Service EYALUATION / RETURN SHEE- Substantive ieview Ronan, Marv, T., Sehool Suffolk Countv MASSA CHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Roview: Reviower's comments: Working No. 10/27/62-2948 Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due: u2s 12/1 1/8 2 Action: ACCEPT_12/10/82 - RETURN. - REJECT_ Federal Agency:- sample - request _ appeal - NR decision Recom. /Criteria. Reviewer_ Men bugu Discipline_ A-lt Date_ 12/10/82 continuation sheet -Nomination returned for: _ technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed balow 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Domarship Pobtte Aopuettien 4.

Owner of Property Statue Aooosoltle Procont Uoe 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys foe thie property boon estammined oligible? - pos - no 7. Description endite escollent Jood toie @etertorated .ruins - Chack ene -unattered - aitered Chock ene and and erteined (1kmewn) phryeioel p poerenco summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection 8. Significance Poriod Aross of Significance Chock and justity balow Specifie dates Statement of Signiticance (in one paragraph) Bullder Architect summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10.

Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quedrangiename UMT References Verbal boundary description and justitication 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state _ local State Historic Preservation Otticer signature date tttle 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed Date_ Phone: 202 272-3504 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Mary T. Ronen School 154 Bradstreet Avenue Revere, MA 1981 Photo by/Negative filed with Richard S. Mandelkorn 41 Barnard Road Belmont, MA View of main entrance facade Photo 1 of 1 © RICHARD S. MANDELKORN 41 Barnard Road Belmont, MA 02178 AH Rights Reserved Not For Publication Without Written Permission Phone: 617-489-1377 12-13-81#3