Germantown Grammar School (Boundary Increase)

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Germantown Grammar School (Boundary Increase) is a school building at 45 W. Haines St. in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, built in 1886-1887 in the Italianate style and designed by architect Joseph W. Anshutz.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C in 2006, with criteria consideration G and local-level significance in architecture. Its period of significance runs from 1887, when it was completed, to 1937, when the school closed.

Physical character

The building has a stone foundation and sandstone-trimmed walls, under a wood roof with a shallow hip section and a gambrel section. Sandstone lintels with a concave half-round detail and heavy sandstone sills frame 4/4 double-hung wood windows with 2-light transoms, decorative rafter ends support the wood eaves, and inside the school follows a single-loaded corridor floor plan. Two chimney stacks have decorative stone caps, and a datestone inscribed 1887 sits near an iron fence with a flame finial.

Historical context

The building began as an annex to Grammar School #1, designed by Anshutz in 1886, and it served as a school from 1887 until it closed in 1937. The schools were renamed Lafayette Schools #1 and 2 in 1926, and by 1946 the property was divided after the school system there ended.