The Spring Garden School No. 1 is an historic, American

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

building that is located in the Poplar 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 1986. By 2013 the building had been abandoned.

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 1927 and 1928 and is a three-story, three-bay brick building that was created in the Modernestyle. It features a

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

entrance surround, a limestone parapet, and decorative tile. ''Note:'' This includes It was added to the

in 1986. By 2013 the building had been abandoned.

Present day

the building had old textbooks and graffiti inside. Around that period, there was a plan to convert the buildings into apartments for disadvantaged elderly people. Around 2017, the school building reopened as affordable housing for veterans.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Moderne architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1928 Poplar, Philadelphia Defunct schools in Pennsylvania 1928 establishments in Pennsylvania