Nomination for Daniels, Charles A., School

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 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 DEC date entered JAN 5 1986 6 1987 historic Charles A. Daniels School and or common 2. Location same street & number Daniels Street N/A not for publication city, town Malden N/A vicinity of state Massachusetts 3. Classification Category Ownership district public X building(s) X private structure .both site Public Acquisition object M/in process being considered code 025 county Middlesex code 017 Status -_ occupied unoccupied X work in progress Accessible yes: restricted .

yes: unrestricted no Present Use agriculture commercial educational entertainment government industrial military museum -park - private residence _ religious - scientific _ transportation X other: vacant 4. Owner of Property name Daniels School Developrent Associates c/o Michael J. Capizzi Planning and Development street & number 245 Newbury Street city, town Boston L/A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Middlesex Registry of Deeds street & number 208 Canbridge Street city, town Cambridge state Massachusetts 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic title has this property been determined eligible?

- yes x no Assets of the Cormonwealth of Massachusetts # 405 date 1977 _ federal _ state - countyX local depository for survey records Massachusetis Historical Commission, S0 Boylston Street, Boston city, town state Nassachusetts 02116 7. Description Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Condition . excellent good X fair - deteriorated . ruins unexposed Check one _ unaltered X altered (see text) Check one X original site - moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, is located about one half mile east of Malden Square, the center of this densely built suburban industrial community five miles north of downtown Boston. The school occupies an irregularly shaped lot of about 3 1/2 acres and faces west onto Daniels Street. Eastern Avenue, a major east-west roadway through Malden, bounds the lot to the north, while Willow Street curves to the east and south. The school stands in an area of mixed single and multifamily residential buildings, and, along Eastern Avenue, commercial and light-industrial properties. Two parks, Kierstead and Tartikoff Parks, are to the northeast and south of the school property, respectively, while the mid 20th century First Church of the Nazarene is sited across Daniels Street to the south.

Built in 1906, the Daniels School is a monumental Tudor Revival-style red brick structure, H-shaped in plan, with finely detailed limestone and granite trim. It was designed by the Boston architectural firm of Brainerd and Leeds. The building rests on a foundation of brick and granite block. Its three-story, gable-roofed main block is flanked by symmetrical two-story wings with flat roofs and stepped parapets. An elaborate granite entryway dominates the main facade. Windows, for the most part 6/6 sash, rest on limestone sills or are united in groups of three, four, or five beneath limestone lintels or projecting hoods. While granite the watertable separating the basement from the first story, limestone is used for the cornice encircling the entire structure at the second story, and a band of coping along all rooflines.

main block's curved and stepped gable ends are interrupted by four ventilation stacks with multiple flues defined by panel br ickwork, and distinctive round-arched caps. A carved finial surmounts each gable end. Buff-colored brick, used in quoins, stringcourses, and placques, further enlivens the facade. In 1957, a single-story L-shaped addition was constructed to the southeast of the original building, joined by a single-story passageway at the basement Tevel. This structure is considered noncontributing. development plans, which call for the conversion of the 1906 structure to residential space according to the Secretary of Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation, the 1957 addition and passageway are to be demolished and AETEE replaced by modern brick townhouses.

The lot on which the school stands slopes from west to east and is almost entirely covered with asphalt paving, save forsmall areas of lawn on the Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue sides of the property. Because of the lot's slope, the school's partially excavated basement is fully exposed on the building's eastern side. continued NPS Form 10-800-8 (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Continuation sheet Item number OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Page The school's western, main facade is dominated by the central frontispiece, set beneath a curved and stepped gable projection, a feature typical of the Tudor Revival style.

The entranceway, approached by six shallow granite steps, is through a round-arched doorway within a single-story shallow-arched projecting entry portico of granite. The portico is composed of smooth-shafted columns supporting an entablature with name placque ornately carved tympanum. Directly above the portico are a pair of narrow windows joined by a flat-topped, eared limestone hood and framed by quoins. Three windows within the gable are united beneath an eared segmental-arched hood and complete the frontispiece. The main block also includes two symmetrically arranged fenestration groups of five 6/6 sash windows each, resting on limestone sills on the first floor and further defined by a continuous limestone lintel on the second story. At the curved gable projection described above; four ornamental diamond-shaped panels, of limestone and buff-colored brick, further define the bays.

Wooden modillions at the eaves complete the main block's ornamentation. The two flanking wings, projecting slightly from the main block, are symmetrical. On the main facade, each contains three 6/6 sash windows united on the first story by limestone lintels, sills, and pilasters, and framed by buff-brick quoins. On the second story, a similar arrangement of fenestration is further ornamented with a projecting, eared hood. Each window group rests on a trio of panel-brick placques. The stepped parapet above the limestone cornice is defined by 1imestone coping; a diamond ornament of limestone and buff brick is centered within the parapet. The north and south elevations of the wings were originally identical; the southern wing's southern facade was altered in 1957 when a single-story stairway bay set within a stepped and curved gable.

The full-height basement entry, revealed by the site's slope from front to rear. arch. is set within a tudor Iwo banks of paired 6/6 sash windows divided by limestone mullions, framed by buff-brick quoins, and topped by six-pane transoms, are stacked directly above the entrance and light the landings, while narrow rectangular windows with 1imestone lintels and sills light the stairwells themselves. Beneath the curved gable is a single diamond-shaped ornament. On either side of the central bay are symmetrical groupings of four 6/6 sash windows unifed in a manner echoing the main block: simple limestone sills on the first story, with the addition of continuous limestone lintels on the second story.

Beh ind the parapet of each two-story wing, the main block's end gable, with continued NPS Form 10-800-8 (3-52) United States Department of the Interior : National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts. Continuation sheet Item number 7 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Page its multiflued ventilation stacks, and carved limestone finial, is also visible. A segmental-arched window opening within the main block's gable contains three window groups of fixed sash and transoms. The rear, eastern facade is less richly ornamented than the rest of the building, but echoes its elaboration. The main block is regularly fenestrated, although several window openings on the third story have been bricked in. Ornamentation is simple, limited to limestone sills beneath the first and second story windows.

An eared gable, one bay wide, projects from the center of the main block. The two wings repeat the mix of granite and 1imestone in watertable, lintels, sills, eared hoods, diamond panels, and coping. The building's interior_is simple and utilitarian, with few decorative elements. Some original woodwork is retained, including hardwood floors, door and window molding, chairrails, blackboard enframements, and, in the first and second story stairwells, panelled pilasters. The interior plan has undergone some alterations. The basement level now contains six classrooms and two modern lavatories. On the first and second stories, eight classrooms, which have seen some 20th century partitioning, are arrayed along a wide central hal1way. The third story houses a large auditorium with a stage along the east wall.

Archaeology No known prehistoric sites are recorded in or near the area, and no historic structures on this parcel are known to predate the school. Since the early 20th century, the parcel has been disturbed through both grading and new construction (in 1907 and again in 1957). The site appears, therefore, to possess little if any archaeological potential.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Period - prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 X - 1900- Areas of Significance-Check and justify below -_. archeology-prehistoric -_community planning - archeology-historic -conservation - agriculture _ economics X architecture X education art engineering commerce - exploration/settlement communications industry invention landscape architecture_ religion law literature military music philosophy politics/government science sculpture _ social/ humanitarian theater - transportation X other (specify) community development Specific dates 1907 Statement of Significance

Statement of significance

(in one paragraph) Builder/Architect Brainerd & Leeds The Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association. Constructed in 1907, the building is a monumental brick structure with well-executed Tudor Revival-style detailing. In its H-shaped plan, prominent site, and ample fenestration, the school reflects concern for the most popular educationa1 theories of the period; it is the work of the influential Boston architectural firm of Brainerd and Leeds, known throughout the region for their fine institutional designs.

The building's construction reflects the dramatic increase in Malden's population in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as the town saw a rapid transition from quiet agricultural community to one of the Boston area's most prosperous and active industrial centers, extensive program of public and private buildings--institutional, residential, and commercial--accompanying that industrialization. The only example of its style amongst Malden's institutional buildings, the Daniels School thus fulfils Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places on the local level. Malden, located only five miles north of the city of Boston and sited at the boundary of the MysticRiver valley and the Middlesex Fells highlands, saw rapid growth during the second half of the 19th century.

The opening of the Boston & Maine Railroad in 1845 north across the Malden River (a tributary of the Mystic River) assured the town's transformation from tranquil agricultural hamlet to prosperous industrial town, and prompted suburban and commercial growth around Central Square. Along with the introduction of the horse-car railroad (1858) and a landing wharf at Sandy Bank on the Malden River (1847), the steam car railroad facilitated passage to Boston and brought new industries to the town. Coal and lumber yards, soap and chemical companies, and a naval ordnance depot all located on the banks of the Malden River in an area southwest of the town's center known as Edgeworth, an area that quickly became Malden's prime industrial area. A major manufacturer was the Boston Rubber Shoe Company, established by Elisha Converse in 1853.

By 1870, the company was Malden's largest manufacturer, employing 150 people and producing $450,000 in products annually; twenty years later, it had become the world's Targest manufacturer of rubber shoes. By the 1860s, newspaper writers described Malden as a "large and flour ish ing town"with "substantial buildings. - . from which (arises) the hum of busy industry." Thousands of skilled laborers and vagrants gravitated to the town in hopes of finding work in Malden factories. Between 1850 and 1882, the year in which Malden became a city, its population soared from 3,520 to 12,779. In a900st ttce ghat numderaby the tuon of the century. By 1900 Ma1den it counted 24,626 people in its census, and become the most prosperous city in Middlesex County. Local industry became continued 9.

The rest of the file

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

Major Bibliographical References See continuation sheet 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UT M References approx. 3.5 acres Boston North, Mass. Zone L$3101610/|416/919/21210 Easting Northing LLL Quadrangle scale 1:25000 B Zone LALLILILL Easting Northing Lu LLu HLI Verbal boundary description and justification See attached Assessor's Map. 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 Betsy Friedberg, Preservtion Planner, Massachusetes Historical Commission, with Debra Jacobs, Michael J. Capizzi Planning'Development organization Massachusetts Historical Comnission date September: 1936 street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone (517) 727-3470 city or town 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 Valuie A Talmage State Historic Preservation Officer title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical date Nav, 21,1986 Conmisston For NPS use only hereby certfy that this property is included in the tetred Re ister Ulous Matlonal Resister date 1-6-87 Keeper of the National Register Attest: Chief of Registration GPO 911-399 date NPS Form 10-800-s (3-82) OMB ApprovalNo.

1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form date Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Continuation sheet Item number 8 1 Page more and more diversified, the downtown section around Pleasant and Main Streets became a major shopping area, and most of the town's civic institutions were founded at this time. It was around the turn of the century that Malden experienced its greatest building boom. Residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings in a variety of styles were erected. The Converse Memorial Library, des igned by H. H. Richardson and erected by the Norcross Brothers in 1884-1885 as the gift of Elias Converse (NR 1985), was the first of the city's institutional buildings to be built during this period of growth and prosperity.

Between 1900 and 1910, the city experienced its largest ten-year growth period ever, with the population increasing from 32,000 to 45,000. vast portion of these newcomers were foreign immigrants. Irish, Italians, Russian Jews, and other immigrants arrived to find work in the city's factories. As more people moved to Malden and the central core of the city reached its maximum density, the settlement pattern developed away from that It was at this time that the west end of the city gained its reputation as the more expensive part of town, and that tenement housing spread to the north, south, and east. Ward 7, where the Daniels School was constructed, lies directly east of Malden Center. At the turn of the century, Ward 7 was the fastest growing area of Malden, with dozens of tenement houses, primarily for immigrant workers, thrown up year ly at a rapid rate.

The ward's school-age population was composed primarily of the children of working class immigrant families. By 1905, the existing grammar school in the area--the eleven-room Lincoln School (1885) - -was so overcrowded that classes were held in a nearby chapel and in portable buildings, and students had to meet in split shifts. A new, larger school was imperative. The Daniels School, the last of almost a dozen three- or four-story red brick school buildings erected in Malden between 1885 and 1910, was built to meet this need. Its site, alongside Eastern Avenue in the middle of an area of industrial activity and workers housing adjacent to the B & M's Saugus Branch 1ine, was selected in 1905. As the mayor noted in his annual report of that year, "In selecting a lot for this new building, it would be well to keep clearly in mind the need for an ample play-ground.

This district is destined to be very thickly settled at no distant date, more school buildings will be necessary, and a breathing space for the children will be an absolute necessity." The building's cornerstone was laid in 1907, and it opened one year later. The Daniels Schools' architectural significance lies both in its demonstration of the latest educational theories at the turn of the century and its wel1-executed Tudor Revival-style design. The school was the work of the architectural firm of Brainerd and Leeds earhy zotu cenfury for taindesigndfpuslice buikdings, teeiBosga aneder othe continued NP$ Form 10-800-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Continuation sheet Item number OMB Approval No.

1024-0018 recefvoc Cate arte 8 Page 2 educational facilities. Brainerd (1862-1941) studied architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and spent the early years of his career in the office of prominent Boston architect Edmund Wheelwright. Wheelwright, architect of many of Boston's most noted public buildings of the early 20th century, was also known for his book School Architecture: A General Treatise for the Use of Architects and Others, pub Tished in 190T. The book advocated concern for both beauty and function in schoolhouse design, and touted the importance of light and ventilation in successful education. Brainerd and his partner, Edmund Leeds, whom he joined in 1898, were undoubtedly influenced by Whee1wright in their 1905 design for the Daniels School. Located between two city parks, the well-fenestrated school is free from shadows cast by adjacent buildings.

Its large windows allowed the students plenty of light; it was designed and sited to provide most classrooms with exposure on two sides, and to ensure that each of its sixteen rooms had sunlight for several hours daily during every season of the school year. The building's wide corridors, steel stairways, and hollow brick exterior walls were also features advocated by Whee1wright. At the time of its construction, the Daniels School was also recognized for its sophisticated ventilation system, which was capable of supplying each occupant with thirty cubic feet of fresh air per minute. Among the eleven elementary and secondary schools erected in Malden dur ing the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Daniels School stands out. Most were built in the popular Beaux-Arts, Renaissance, and Romanesque Revival styles.

The Daniels School, Malden's only example of the work of Brainerd and Leeds, is also the city's only example of the use of Tudor-inspired design in schooThouse architecture. Its monumental size, prominent siting, and finely executed Tudor Revival-style detailing in a mix of brick and stone (including in its vocabulary fanciful chimney caps, bands of transom-topped windows, parapeted roofline, decorative placques, quoins, and window hoods), ensured that the building would become a neighborhood landmark. The building was named for Charles A. Daniels (1843-1925), former ly super intendent of schools and considered by many the father of the Malden public school system.

Daniels, a graduate of Harvard College, spent two years as the principal of Troy Academy in Pennsylvania, after which he returned to Massachusetts to become principal first of the Centre School and, later, of Malden High School. In 1883, Daniels was elected super intendent of public schools in Malden. advocating teachers' independence in the classroom and creative, individualistic responses to student problems. dence in the ctassroan tet cves Daniels was one of the first educators to establish in each school in Malden a special classroom for slow learners.

He also initiated a teacher's library, with the goal of promoting teacher self-education, and he initiated a teacher's training course, considered "a necessary institution" for maintaining a high standard for continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Continuation sheet Item number OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 8 Page 3 classroom teachers. Upon relinquishing his post in 1896, Daniels returned to the classroom as a special teacher of history at Malden High School. He rema ined in that position until his retirement in 1918. The Daniels School served the center of Malden as an elementary school virtually unaltered from its opening in 1908 until 1957.

In that year, a large single-story wing was added to accomodate an even greater population of pupils. It was linked to the original structure by a small breezeway on the building's southern side. The school was closed in 1981 following statewide budget cutbacks and has stood vacant since that time; present plans call for the rehabilitation of the original building into residential space, while the 1957 wing is to be demolished and replaced by a group of townhouses unattached to the main structure but sympathetic in scale and materials. NPS Form 10-800-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Charles A. Daniels School, Malden, Massachusetts Continuation sheet Item number 9 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Page 1 9. Major Bibliographic References City of Malden Public School Souvenir.

Malden, Mass., 1899. Child, Ruth L. S., "History of the Schools of Malden, 1649-1934." Typescript in the Malden Public Library. Malden, Mass., n.d. Malyen ayening N0B ovember 6,6, 3, Noveber 11, 1n54, february 19ber 4, November 6, 1935, November 11, 1954, February 16, 1955, August 23, 1957, April 11, 1978, February 26, 1981, June 16, 1981, Map 3, 1982, and August 2, 1984. Massachusetts Reconnaissance Survey Report, "Malden." Boston, 1980. Wheelwright, Edmund March, School Architecture: A General Treatise for the Use of Architects and Others. Boston, T90T.

86003562 WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Daniels, Charles A., School Middlesex County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: -sample Reviewer's comments: request Working No._ DEC 5 1986 Fed. Reg. Date: 7/288 Date Due: - 287- 1119/82 Iotered :fin BlisAction: ACCEPT -/-6-87 Metional Be RETURN _REJECT_ Federal Agency: -appeal - NR decision Recom./Criteria Reviewer Discipline Date see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: - .technical corrections cited below substantive reasons discussed below 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition J excellent good deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one - unaltered altered Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use Check one J original site moved date 8. Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) 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 Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 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 Officer signature date title 13. Other Maps Photographs Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Signed - Date - Phone: GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by John Jones, 3/85 Negative kept by Mr. Jones Photo number one of six sw elevation looking north 7 Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by John Jones, 3/85 Negative kept by Mr.

Jones Photo number two of six SE elevation looking north-west Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by Greg Mironchuck, 8/84 Negative kept by Mr. Mironchuck Photo number three of six SW elevation Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by Greg Mironchuck, 8/84 Negative kept by Mr. Mironchuck Photo number four of six NE elevation AAAI Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by Greg Mironchuck, Negative kept by Mr. Mironchuck Photo number five of six SE elevation 8/84 Daniels School Daniels Street and Eastern Avenue Malden, Massachusetts Photographed by Greg Mironchuck, 8/84 Negative kept by Mr.

Mironchuck Photo number six of six NW elevation EET AIOCES P093545977 The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A. Talmage Executive Director State Historic Preservation Officer November 20, 1986 Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of Interior National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms. Shull Enclosed you will find the following nomination forms: Cambridge, HARVARD SQUARE HISTORIC DISTRICT. Dover, ELM BANK, off 900 Washington Street. Malden, CHARLES A DANIELS SCHOOL, Daniels Street. HPCA# 0693-85-0705. All have been voted eligible by the State Review Board and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer.

Owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 30-75 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Comments received to date are attached to the nomination forms. Sincerely, - sally Sarah Zimmerman Director, Preservation Planning Massachusetts Historical Commission SZ/dr Enclosures DEC 51986 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470