{"nrhp_refnum":"03000385","name":"Savin Hill Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Savin Hill Ave., Morrissey Blvd., Dorchester Bay, and I-93","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.30898550000006,"lon":-71.0497411793733,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A compact residential historic district on a peninsula in the Dorchester section of Boston, Massachusetts, centered on Savin Hill and developed from about 1855 to 1953. It includes dwellings, a school, a commercial building, parks, a beach and a monument.","why_significant":"The district documents Savin Hill's growth from a mid-19th century speculative suburb for Boston's upper-middle class into a close-knit community of mixed social classes. It retains a wide range of intact architectural styles, especially Queen Anne and Colonial Revival, and a historic streetscape little altered since 1940. It is listed under Criteria A and C for Architecture and Community Planning and Development.","narrative":"Savin Hill is a compact residential enclave on a peninsula in Boston's Dorchester section, built around a rocky hill that is now a public park. Development began as a speculative suburb for the city's upper-middle class in the 1850s and 1860s, then broadened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to include lower-middle and working-class families. The district contains about 356 contributing resources, mostly wooden houses of no more than three stories on small lots, along with a brick Georgian Revival school from 1911, an ice cream store, parks, and Savin Hill and Malibu beaches. Queen Anne and Colonial Revival designs dominate, alongside Second Empire, Italianate and Victorian Gothic examples, and many houses were built in pairs or rows by local developers. Railroad, subway, expressway and parkway construction set its boundaries. Because little has been built since 1940 and alterations are modest, the historic streetscapes remain intact, which supported listing for architecture and community planning.","period_of_significance":"1850-1953","architect_builder":"See district data sheet (not given in the excerpt). Architects and builders named in the text include George H. Young, Philip LeBlanc, Isaac Shurman, Giles B. Powell and the Olmsted Brothers.","architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Italianate, Gothic, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Colonial Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as well preserved with minimal alterations. Most buildings remain residential, the former school is now condominiums, and the ice cream store operates seasonally.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.078635-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/7968/63796845/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03000385.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000385/6d7bf7fc8a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000385/6d7bf7fc8a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"User:Magicpiano, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_SavinHillPark.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796845","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savin_Hill","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7428250"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/savin-hill-historic-district-03000385/"}