{"nrhp_refnum":"01001198","name":"Dorchester Heights Historic District","other_names":["Telegraph Hill"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly a one block area surrounding Telegraph Hill","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dorchester","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.332838500000065,"lon":-71.04592051399611,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-11-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Military"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A largely residential historic district at the summit of Telegraph Hill, the highest ground in South Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It contains 404 contributing buildings, mostly wood-frame houses built between 1850 and 1873, plus Thomas Park and the Dorchester Heights Monument.","why_significant":"The district is one of the few areas in Boston with an extensive, largely intact picture of a prosperous middle-class neighborhood that grew rapidly in the third quarter of the 19th century. It retains vernacular wood-frame housing built by a handful of carpenter/developers, along with notable civic landmarks. It also includes the hilltop where Washington's 1776 fortifications forced the British evacuation of Boston.","narrative":"Dorchester Heights Historic District occupies the highest ground in South Boston, centered on Telegraph Hill and the elliptical Thomas Park. Most of its roughly 400 contributing buildings are wood-frame single, double and three-decker houses laid out and built between 1850 and 1873 by a few speculative carpenter/developers for a middle-class clientele. Italianate and Mansard designs dominate, with Carpenter Gothic, Greek Revival and Late Federal examples, and many cast-iron fences and granite steps survive. Two institutional landmarks anchor the district: the 115-foot marble Dorchester Heights Monument, built 1900-1902 in the form of a colonial meetinghouse spire, and the Classical Revival South Boston High School. The hill is also where George Washington placed cannon in 1776, leading British forces to leave Boston. The district was recognized as an unusually complete record of mid-19th century suburban development and speculative building practice at the city's edge.","period_of_significance":"1850-1873","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Stick, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Classical Revival, Craftsman","criteria":[],"status_note":"Largely intact, with little demolition after the period of significance; many houses have reversible alterations such as replaced siding. Residential use continues alongside parks, a school, churches and shops.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.41271-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/73/7968/63796873/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/01001198.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"15000195","name":"Boston National Historical Park","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/boston-national-historical-park-15000195/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796873","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorchester_Heights_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5297609"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/dorchester-heights-historic-district-01001198/"}