{"nrhp_refnum":"03001178","name":"Miss Worcester Diner","other_names":["Worcester Lunch Car # 812"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"302 Southbridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.25395576000005,"lon":-71.80847658299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A barrel-roofed diner at 302 Southbridge Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, manufactured in 1948 as car #812 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company and delivered on June 14, 1948.","why_significant":"It is a fine, late example of the traditional wood-frame New England barrel-roof diner, the form for which the Worcester Lunch Car Company was best known. It is considered Worcester's signature diner and sits across from the company's factory, where it served as a working model for prospective buyers. It meets Criteria A and C at the state and local levels.","narrative":"Miss Worcester Diner, at 302 Southbridge Street in Worcester, was built in 1948 by the Worcester Lunch Car Company as diner #812 and delivered that June. It is seven bays wide and three deep, with a brick foundation, a rounded metal roof and pale yellow porcelain enamel panels with light blue trim. A concrete block kitchen wing dates to about 1948. Inside, a full-length marble counter, fourteen steel stools and a barrel ceiling survive, though the booths are replacements. The diner stands across the street from the factory that made it and served as a working model for prospective buyers. It represents the wood-frame barrel-roof design that the company was known for, a form that lost ground after World War II to larger stainless steel diners from out-of-state makers. The company built 651 lunch cars and diners between 1907 and 1957. The diner is regarded as the city's signature diner and remains a working restaurant.","period_of_significance":"1948-1953","architect_builder":"Worcester Lunch Car Company","architectural_style":"Other: New England Barrel Roof Diner","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a restaurant, with a full-length marble counter, fourteen steel stools and replacement plywood booths inside.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.565834-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/7931/63793178/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03001178.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001178/19a86456b6-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001178/19a86456b6-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Improbcat","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miss_worcester.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Improbcat</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Miss_worcester.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793178","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Worcester_Diner","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6878042"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/miss-worcester-diner-03001178/"}