National Register of Historic Places

Vare, Abigail, School

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
Listed
December 4, 1986
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
86003339

About this property

Abigail Vare School is a former school building located in the Pennsport neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is located across from Dickinson Square Park. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It was built in 1903–1904, and is a three-story, square stone building in the Classical Revival-style. It features a central projecting pediment with Ionic order columns and decorative Palladian window, an oversized molded cornice, and a hipped and gable roof with decorative brackets. The school was named after Abigail Vare, the mother of the three Vare Brothers (including William Scott Vare), who became politicians and contractors. In December 2012 Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. presented a proposal that would close the George Washington School and move Abigail Vare School into Washington's building. At the time Washington's building was in a better condition compared to Vare's, while the Vare school had an academic performance superior to that of Washington's. In March 2013, the school district voted to close Washington. Abigail Vare School moved from its previous building to the former Washington building, and it is now known as Vare-Washington School. After Washington-Vare moved to the former Washington school, the former Vare school remained vacant. The school district and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation listed the Vare building for $2.5 million. Concordia Group, a company headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, acquired the Vare building, along with Germantown High School and three other schools, for $6.8 million. The SRC voted on this sale in September 2014. In 2015 Concordia Group announced that it wished to construct six townhouses next to the former Vare building and also convert Vare itself into 45 apartment units. The developer engaged in a community meeting with area residents, and it reduced the number of units to 41, in addition to reducing the amount of parking.

Location

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
39.92697, -75.15054

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Furness, Horace, Junior High School
Industrial
0.2 mi
Kirkbride, Eliza Butler, School
Industrial
0.4 mi
Southwark School
Industrial
0.4 mi
Washington, George, School
Industrial
0.5 mi
Bok, Edward, Vocational School
Industrial
0.5 mi

Nearby Battles

Battle of Gloucester (NJ) 1777
1777Revolutionary War
2.9 mi
Fort Mercer siege Oct-Nov 1777
1777Revolutionary War
3.4 mi
Fort Mercer (Battle of Red Bank)
1777Revolutionary War
3.9 mi
Fort Mercer (Red Bank) – Second Assault
1777Revolutionary War
4 mi
Battle of Germantown Oct 4 1777
1777Revolutionary War
4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Vare, Abigail, School listed on the National Register?

Vare, Abigail, School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1986.

What type of historic resource is Vare, Abigail, School?

Vare, Abigail, School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Vare, Abigail, School?

The period of significance for Vare, Abigail, School is recorded as the industrial era.

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