The Joseph C. Ferguson School is an historic American school building that is located in the Cecil B. Moore neighborhood of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1988.

History and architectural features

Irwin T. Catharine Irwin Thornton Catharine (October 22, 1883 – March 3, 1944) was the chief architect of Philadelphia Public school (government funded), public schools from 1920 until his retirement in 1937. Buildings built during Catharine's tenure ranged from ...

, this historic structure was built between 1921 and 1922. It is a three-story, nine-bay, U-shaped, brick building that sits on a raised basement. Created in the

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

style, it features large stone arches, a double stone cornice, and brick

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/brea ...

. ''Note:'' This includes The school is named after Joseph C. Ferguson a judge that was a part of Philadelphia orphan court. It was added to the

in 1988. The building is currently the home of The U School, an innovative high school in the

School District of Philadelphia The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) is the school district that includes all school district-operated State schools, public schools in Philadelphia. Established in 1818, it is the largest school district in Pennsylvania and the eighth-lar ...

. The U School and Building 21, two schools with a non-selective lottery-based admissions process, opened at the Ferguson building during the 2014–2015 school year. Building 21 relocated after three academic years, and The U School remains.

References

External links

The U School homepage

Building 21 homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Joseph C., School School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1922 Templetown, Philadelphia 1922 establishments in Pennsylvania