{"nrhp_refnum":"02001084","name":"Lowell Post Office","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"89 Appleton St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.64117124100005,"lon":-71.30906460199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-10-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story granite post office with a five-story clock tower at 89 Appleton Street in downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, completed in 1895 in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and built by Staples Brothers of Lowell.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant for its link to the growth of Lowell's postal service and downtown, serving as the city's principal post office for about 40 years and being the first building in Lowell designed as a post office. It is also an intact, among the finest, examples of Richardsonian Romanesque design in the city.","narrative":"Completed in 1895 at the corner of Appleton and Gorham Streets in downtown Lowell, this granite post office is a monumental Richardsonian Romanesque building with broad arches, carved capitals and spandrel panels, a turret, and a five-story clock tower that still holds its historic clock and bell. It was the first building in Lowell designed specifically as a post office and replaced earlier rented quarters, on the site of St. Peter's Church. The design is attributed to Supervising Architect W.J. Edbrooke, and Staples Brothers of Lowell built it. It served as the city's main post office until 1936, then housed Veterans Administration offices, city offices, and the school department. After being vacated in the late 1990s, it was rehabilitated and a small addition was built in 2000. It is now used as a courthouse. It is considered one of the finest buildings of its style in Lowell.","period_of_significance":"1893-1952","architect_builder":"W.J. Edbrooke (architect); Staples Brothers of Lowell (contractor)","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated as a Certified Rehabilitation using the investment tax credit program, with a small west addition built in 2000; currently leased for use as a courthouse.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.815013-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/86/7957/63795786/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/02001084.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001084/573b12ee74-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001084/573b12ee74-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lowell_MA_Post_Office_Appleton_St.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lowell_MA_Post_Office_Appleton_St.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795786","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lowell_Post_Office","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q12061389"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/lowell-post-office-02001084/"}