{"nrhp_refnum":"03001469","name":"Winthrop Shore Dr., Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Winthrop Shore Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winthrop","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.36973456800007,"lon":-70.96766425699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-01-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Conservation","Engineering","Entertainment/Recreation","Landscape Architecture","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Winthrop Shore Drive is an ocean parkway just under a mile to about 1.25 miles long in Winthrop, Massachusetts, running along Broad Sound and Winthrop Beach. It was built in 1899 as part of the Winthrop Beach Reservation in Boston's Metropolitan Park System.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the earliest ocean parkways designed for the Metropolitan Parks Commission by Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot and its successor firm, Olmsted Brothers. It reflects the principles of public ownership, control and access to the shore set out by Charles Eliot in 1897. It is significant in community planning, conservation, engineering, recreation, landscape architecture and transportation.","narrative":"Winthrop Shore Drive is a short ocean parkway in Winthrop, Massachusetts, following the shore of Broad Sound above Winthrop Beach. Two 14-foot asphalt lanes run between a concrete seawall on the ocean side and a line of wood-frame homes on the inland side. Parallel parking, granite curbs, concrete sidewalks and an oval landscaped miter at Beacon Street complete the corridor. A granite monument placed in 1927 by the Daughters of the American Revolution marks the capture of the British ship Hope in 1776. The road was built in 1899 after a storm washed out the beach in 1898, when the Legislature funded a seawall, sidewalks and a promenade along the former Crest Avenue. It grew from Charles Eliot's 1897 argument that the shoreline should be secured for public use before private owners shut people out. Its granite seawall dates to 1905 and later extensions. It is listed for its role in park planning, conservation, engineering and recreation, and for its design by the Olmsted firms.","period_of_significance":"1899-1956","architect_builder":"Charles Eliot, Olmsted Brothers, Civilian Conservation Corps","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a public parkway and park; changes since the early 20th century are mostly resurfacing and maintenance.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.092818-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/75/7927/63792775/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03001469.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001469/f8ce864923-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001469/f8ce864923-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Winthrop_Shore_Drive_Winthrop_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Winthrop_Shore_Drive_Winthrop_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792775","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winthrop_Shore_Drive","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1192818"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/winthrop-shore-dr-metropolitan-park-system-of-greater-boston-03001469/"}