The Huse School, located on a large city-owned lot just northwest of downtown Bath, Maine, possesses integrity of location, setting, workmanship, and association. The school is locally significant under National Register Criterion A in the area of Politics/Government as a good, early example of a limited number of schools constructed in Maine under the federal Lanham Act of 1940. The Lanham Act came into existence about one year before the United States entered World War II in order to facilitate expanded national defense activities, most notably defense manufacturing and increased personnel at military bases, by funding housing developments and associated public works projects. The Huse School was constructed in association with the Hyde Park Terrace housing development in Bath, a 200-unit project for employees of the nearby Bath Iron Works, an important manufacturer of ships for the United States Navy. Due to the relatively short duration that the Lanham Act was in effect (October 1940 through August 1945), only a limited number of schools were constructed under the program, just seven in Maine. The Huse School was not only the earliest school built in Maine under the Lanham Act but it is also one of only two that survive largely intact. Completed in 1942, the two-story red brick Huse School is rectangular in plan and stylistically Modern. It was designed with nine classrooms and a large gymnasium wing; a two-story brick and concrete classroom addition was added 1949. Designed by well-known engineer/architect Alonzo J. Harriman (1898-1966), the school represents a transition from traditional to modern school design that occurred in the late 1930s and early 1940s. While the original portion of the building is somewhat reminiscent of the earlier two-story red brick schoolhouses, its flat roof, large banded window openings (many originally holding glass block), lack of ornamentation, flat cornice trim, and clean lines are far more characteristic of Modern design. The period of significance is 1941-1942, reflecting the years during which the Huse School was constructed using federal funds from the Lanham Act. The 1949 addition to the building is outside both the period and area of significance and is considered noncontributing.