Pearl Street School
- Address: 75 Pearl St
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. - NRHP, 23 April 1997