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 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 Register _Local government _ University _ designated a National Historic Landmark Other _recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: # Massachusetts Historical Commission _ recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # Pearl Street School Name of Property Middlesex County, MA County and State 10.
Geographical Data Acreage of Property4.9 acres UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1. 19 Zone 327610 Easting 4710620 Northing Zone 3 Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing 4. Zone Easting Northing _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_Leslie Donovan, Historic Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, National Register Director, MHC organization_Massachusetts Historical Commission date April, 1997 street & number_220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town_Boston state MA _ zip code_02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets Maps 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 withthe SHPO or FPO for anyadditionalitems) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) nameReading Senior Living Limited Partnership street & number75 Pearl Street telephone (617) 944-9200 city or townReading state_ MA _zip code_01867 Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collectedfor 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 reportingburden 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. OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 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 - Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts 8.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The Pearl Street School is significant 1) for its role in the development of Reading's education system; and 2) as Reading's only example of a structure funded through the Public Works Administration. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, and feeling and meets Criterion A of the National Register on the local level. The Pearl Street School was built in 1939 on the grounds of the former town almshouse, or Poor Farm. This was a 2-1/2 story wood frame house with two interior chimneys and was built by Samuel Parker shortly after 1818 on land obtained from his father, Daniel Parker, Jr., who lived at 99 Pearl Street. The town acquired the house for an almshouse sometime prior to 1848. The building is designated the Town Asylum on the 1854 map of Reading and on the 1875 and 1889 maps it is called the Town Farm.
The house, set back approximately 15 - 20 feet from the street, was T-shaped in plan. There were also two stables located south of the house set further back from the road. In the 1930s, the house became the headquarters of the Department of Public Welfare and the federal relief agencies. As late as 1938, it was improved by the town, but in 1939 the building was razed to make way for the Pearl Street School. The Pearl Street School was built behind (east of) the location of the farmhouse and barns, and the house was not demolished until after the school was built. A soccer field and driveway now occupy the location of the earlier structures. A school building was first planned for this site in 1930, but in 1933 the project was defeated at town meeting. Finally, with federal assistance, the project could proceed.
The Pearl Street School was the first new elementary school built in Reading in 50 years. A Public Works Administration grant of $88,136 was obtained for 45% of the estimated cost of construction and equipment. The Town of Reading funded the remaining $110,000 and the building was completed within the appropriation. One of over 34,000 projects built nationwide under this program, the school is apparently the only structure in town that is built with Public Works Administration funds. A Works Progress Adminstration project supplemented the school budget by funding the cost of a new sewer to the school from Salem Street along Harrison and Pearl Streets. The Public Works Administration was a federal program that provided almost $6 billion during the 1930s to construct various public works projects including public buildings.
Authorized under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, the PWA was headed by Secretary of the (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 2 Section number. Page. Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts Interior, Harold L. Ickes. Ickes and the PWA, which was supposed to create jobs for the unemployed and stimulate an economic recovery, were criticized for the slow and arduous process of project selection and funding. Because of its deliberate pace, the PWA failed to provide the much-needed quick boost to the economy. Projects that were funded through the PWA typically received 30 percent federal funds which were matched with 70 percent local funds.
Half of the schools and most of the municipal water and sewage systems built during the 1930s were funded in part through the PWA. The Pearl Street School, Reading's first fire-resistant elementary school, originally contained 15 classrooms and an auditorium which made it possible to consolidate the elementary students from three schools at one facility. A total of 413 students were transferred from three wooden elementary schools, which were closed (Union Street School, Center School, and the Channel House, used for special students). Upon opening, the Pearl Street School still had one spare classroom, intended for future growth. In addition to fireproof construction, the new school boasted new facilities such as: "sound-proof ceilings in rooms and corridors; automatically controlled lighting by means of photo-electric cells; ...
internal telephone system; and adequate visual education equipment. Both rooms and auditorium are equipped with loud speakers which are connected to a central public address cabinet in the principal's office. This equipment can also be used to convey speeches from the platform of the auditorium." The public address system was immediately put to use to reach the overflow crowd at the school's dedication held in January 1940. The perceived role of the structure in enhancing public education was mentioned in the speeches. There was an emphasis on the need to educate children in preparation for the future. The former Superintendent was quoted in the local paper claiming, "This building is of little value in itself. It is valuable only as it facilitates the accomplishment of the ideal education." It was also reported that the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education, Walter F. Downey, "...
urged the listeners to hold fast to the American principle that the public school is the foundation of our democratic form of government." In the Town's Annual Reports, the School Committee mentioned not only the need for modern facilities, but also the rapidly expanding population of school aged children. The Union Street School (1887), which housed children in grades 1-3, was demolished soon after the Pearl Street School opened. Built in 1867 to provide the town's first separate high school classrooms and some grammar school rooms, the Center School was so named in 1906 when the (continued) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page - Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts high school students were moved out to the new High School on Sanborn Street and the Center School was used entirely as a grammar school. Demolished in 1957, the Center School never served as a school building after the students transferred to the new Pearl Street School in 1939. With the construction of the Pearl Street School, students in the 5th & 6th grades at the Highland School were distributed between the Pearl Street School and the Highland School, and both schools then housed grades 1 through 6.
With this change, it was decided to split the school day at the Pearl Street and Highland Schools into two sessions so that the children could walk home for lunch at midday and return refreshed for the afternoon session. Previously, the Highland School had only one session per day, while the other elementary schools already had two sessions, a schedule that had been increasing in popularity among public school systems. It is assumed that it had been too far for some students to walk home for a midday break when the 5th and 6th graders from the east side of town all attended the Highland School. A second change instituted that year in the fifth and sixth grades was to change from departmental teaching, to a system where the children in one classroom were taught primarily by one teacher. Under the former system, one teacher taught 100 to 150 children each day.
With the new system, one teacher would teach thirty or thirty five students and could become more familiar with each child's needs. It should also be noted that the Channel House, which closed when the Pearl Street School opened, had served special students, which it is assumed meant special needs students, who were at least partially integrated into the general school population when they were moved to the Pearl Street School, rather than being isolated in a separate building that was not located near the other elementary schools. Other elementary schools in Reading at the time were the Chestnut Hill School (built 1854, originally on Walnut Street and moved in 1883 to 55 Hopkins Street, closed 1949), Prospect Street School (built 1887, closed 1977) and Lowell Street School (built 1911, closed 1976). Of these, only the Chestnut Hill School remains and is used by a theater company.
The Highland School originally contained grades 4-8, but grades 7 & 8 were moved to the new Walter S. Parker Junior High School when it was completed in 1927. The Highland School (1897) was extensively renovated in 1957 following a fire. It closed in 1981 and was subsequently converted to the town library. The School Committee report for 1938 indicated that if the grade school population continued to increase, another new elementary school would be needed soon in the west district to replace the Prospect Street and Chestnut Hills Schools. However, it was suggested that a new high school was probably a more urgent priority. As it worked out, a new elementary school was built first (Joshua Eaton School, 1949). (continued) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 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 - Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts The 1906 High School by Adden & Parker closed in 1954, served as a community center starting in 1957 and was converted to condominiums in 1988. Other elementary schools built after the Pearl Street School include the Joshua Eaton School (1949), which housed grades 1-6 and is still occupied today, the Birch Meadow School (1957), the Alice M. Barrows Elementary School (1964), and the J. Warren Killam School (1969), Reading's largest elementary school. Reading Memorial High School (1954) was expanded to accommodate 2,000 students in 1971. The Arthur W. Coolidge Junior High (1961) switched to a middle school in 1984 for grades 6, 7 & 8.
Declining enrollment in the late 1970s and the 1980s led to the closing of the Pearl Street School in June 1984, but the school committee held on to the building in the event of a need to accommodate future expansion. Space in the building was then leased to various tenants including a senior center. In 1989, the care and custody of the building was transferred to the Board of Selectmen. It was sold in 1995 and has recently been rehabilitated for assisted living. Reading is a suburban community with a population of 23,000 and a land area of approximately 10 square miles, one third of which is town owned. It has evolved from an agricultural community in the 18th century, which had an expanding industrial economy by the 19th century, and it is primarily a single-family residential community today.
The most densely developed areas are the center of town and the southern corridor, which also contain most of the commercial development. Pearl Street, one of the town's early roads, runs north from Salem Street and appears on the 18th century maps. George H. Sidebottom, a Reading resident, designed the Pearl Street School. The contractor for the school was the Frankini Construction Company. Sidebottom started work as an independent architect in 1903. He opened an offfice in Boston beginning around 1914 and for a period in the 1920s and 1930s he shared an office with William Sidebottom, presumably a relative, but not his father. It is possible that George Sidebottom was influenced by his relative, who was a partner in the firm of Prescott & Sidebottom from 1895 until about 1919. Howard B. Prescott was the architect for the Boston Wharf Company from 1917 until 1939.
George Sidebottom was noted for his designs of municipal school buildings but he obtained a variety of commissions in Reading including the Church of the Good Shepherd (1925) on Woburn Street, the Municipal Light Department building (1939) on Haven Street, the Joshua Eaton School (1949) on Summer Avenue, and the former town garage (now demolished). He also worked with Adden and Parker on the Town Hall (1918). His design for the Joshua Eaton School was judged the winning (continued) NPS Form10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Section number - 8 Page - Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts design in the category of elementary schools by the Architectural Forum from among 3,800 schools that had received federal funding that year.
During his career, Sidebottom designed schools in several other Massachusetts towns. American Architect published an early commission by Sidebottom, a modest house for H.P. Russell, Esq. in Lexington (1915). Sidebottom lived in Reading until his death in 1964, but moved his office out of Boston around 1942. His profession was still listed as an architect (rather than retired) in the Reading street listing until the mid-1950s when he was in his mid-seventies. Archaeological Significance Since patterns of prehistoric occupation in Reading are poorly understood, any surviving sites could be significant. Prehistoric sites in this area may contain information which can further document the nature and variability of prehistoric settlement in the North Shore area and the importance of inland sites within that coastal drainage.
Prehistoric sites in the area may also contain information indicating the relationship of sites in this area to important regional core areas in the Boston locale to the south or the northeast coastal area of Plum Island Sound. Wetland drainage patterns have often been used in archaeological settlement studies to explain settlement models for Native people. The Pearl Street School lies near the border of two drainage, the North Shore with a focus to the south towards Boston and the Ipswich River drainage which drains northeasterly to Plum Island Sound. Information may be present at sites in the area indicating to what extent one or the other of the drainages were important and for which reasons.
Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to document 19th century agricultural landuse of the property and the changes which occurred as it was transformed to mid 19th century institutional use and later 20th century public education. Archaeological survey and testing can locate the remains of earlier structures on the property. This information can document the layout of the 1818 Parker farmstead and changes which occurred as the Parker House was transformed to a Town Asylum/Poor Farm. This type of research can identify which structures and occupational related features were used exclusively during the Parker and Town Farm occupation or, the extent of adaptative reuse and which were used continuously by both.
Detailed analysis of occupational related features can provide information on the social, cultural and economic characteristics of the occupants of the property possibly indicating to what extent institutional life in a town setting was different similar to residential civilian life. The study of occupational related features combined with an analysis of structural remains and documentary sources can provide us (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 Section number 8, 9 Page 6, 1 Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts with information on early 19th century agriculture in Reading with insights into crops which were produced, technologies used and the extent to which the farm's occupants focused on subsistence or market economies. This analysis can also provide as with information on the activities of the Town Farm's occupants beyond simple residency. The possibility that unmarked burials exist on the property also indicates the potential for information relating to the health of the Farm's occupants ultimately indicating causes of death. (end) 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES American Architect, vol. 107, Jan. 20, 1915. Daily Times Chronicle, March 1, 1989. Olson, James, S., ed. Historical Dictionary of the New Deal. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1985. Reading Chronicle, Feb. 2, 1940; Sept.
1, 1949; April 14, 1964. Reading Historical Commission, "Form B - Building (MHC Inventory form) Pearl Street School," Jan. 21, 1990. Reading 350# Book Committee. At Wood End, Reading, Massachusetts 1644-1994. Reading, MA: Reading 350th Anniversary Celebration Steering Committee, 1994. Town of Reading, 1938 Annual Report. Reading, 1938; 1939 Annual Report. Reading, 1939; 1984 Annual Report Reading, 1984. Walker, George H. Middlesex County Massachusetts Atlas. Boston, MA: Geo. H. Walker & Co. 1889. Woodford, E.M. Map of the Town of Reading, Middlesex Co., Mass. Philadelphia, PA: Richard Clark, 1854. (end) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number10 Page - Pearl Street School Reading (Middlesex County) Massachusetts 10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Verbal Boundary Description Beginning at a point on the easterly sideline of Pearl Street, said point being that formed by the intersection with said sideline of the common boundary line between Lots 9 and 10 as shown on Reading Board of Assessors Plat 105 as revised January 1, 1987; Thence easterly 117.79 feet more or less to a point; Thence easterly 302.85 feet more or less to a point at the intersection of Lots 5, 10, and 32 as shown on said Plat; Thence northerly 477.98 feet more or less to a point at the intersection of Lots 10 and 13 as shown on said Plat; Thence westerly 465.80 feet more or less to a point at the intersection of Lots 10 and 11 as shown on said Plat with easterly sideline of said Pearl Street; Thence southerly along said sideline 230.89 feet more or less to a point; Thence southerly along said sideline 196.53 feet more or less to a point; Thence southerly along said sideline 43.94 feet more or less to the point of beginning; Intending to describe all of Lot 10 as shown on said Plat, containing 4.8395 acres more or less and commonly known as the Pearl Street School property.
The parcel contains 4.8395 acres and is located in the U.S.G.S. quadrangle entitled Reading, Massachusetts. Verbal Boundary Justification The nominated property includes the entire parcel historically associated with the Pearl Street School.
(end) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Pearl Street School NAME : MULTIPLE NAME : STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 5/02/97 5/29/97 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 5/13/97 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 6/16/97 REFERENCE NUMBER: 97000496 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N OTHER: N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: N COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: Entered in the lational Regiateü RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N Pearl Street School 15 Pearl Street Reading, MA Photo by Leslie Donovan Oct.
4,1996 Negative held by Leslie Donoran Photo No. 9306-21 Viem looking Northwest at south Pearl Street School 75 Pearl Street Reading, MA Photo by. Leslie Donoran Oct. 4,1996 Negative held by Leslie Donoran Photo No. 9306-2/ Viero looking Northnest shoring sou elevations, including auditoriu Pearl Street School 15 School street Reading, MA Photo by. Leslie Donovan Oct.4.1996 Negative held by Leslie Donor Photo No. 9306-21 Mari entrance, west elevation, transom and Art Deco surroune Peard street School 75 Pearl Street Readiig, MA Photo by. Leslie Donovan Oct. 4,1996 Negative held by Leslie Donora Photo No. 9306-21 Vien of sowth enty woth ovig and Art Deco sumound. JITE LAAIND The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission April 23, 1997 RECEIVED 2280 Ms.
Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 MAY - 2 1997 NAT RE PLACES NAL PARK SERVICE Dear Ms. Shull: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: Pearl Street School, 75 Pearl Street, Reading (Middlesex County), 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, Setey fredhere Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure cc: Mr. Edward G. Smethurst, Reading Historical Commission Mr. Edward Levitt, Reading Senior Living Association Ms. Sally M. Hoyt, Chair, Reading Board of Selectmen Ms.
Leslie Donovan, Preservation Consultant 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 - (617) 727-8470 Fax: (617) 727-5128 TDD: 1-800-392-6090
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