Watson Comly School, also known as Somerton Masonic Hall, is a historic

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

building located in the Somerton neighborhood of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Built in 1892–1893, it is a two-story, four-bay,

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Type ...

building in the Colonial Revival style. It features a one-story stone entrance pavilion and large hipped roof with stone chimney. ''Note:'' This includes The school was named for Watson Comly, a local resident who held many public offices, including serving several terms as a representative in the state legislature. The building served as a school from its completion until 1928, when it was replaced by a larger building on Byberry Road. The same year, the site was acquired by the

Masons Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

, in exchange for the land on which the new school was built. The Masons used it for many years from 1930 as a lodge hall. The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1988.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comly, Watson, School School buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia Colonial Revival architecture in Pennsylvania School buildings completed in 1893 Northeast Philadelphia Masonic buildings in Pennsylvania Defunct schools in Pennsylvania