{"nrhp_refnum":"05000559","name":"Collins Building","other_names":["Bowdoin Hall","Mt. Bowdoin Hall","New Washington Auditorium","Silver Manor"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"213-217 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.30063379500007,"lon":-71.07638873599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-06-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story Colonial Revival brick commercial building at 213-217 Washington Street in the Mt. Bowdoin neighborhood of Dorchester, Boston, completed in 1898 for developer Charles F. Collins.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is tied to the development of the Mt. Bowdoin neighborhood and to the Jewish community that settled in Dorchester in the early 20th century. It was the only 19th-century commercial structure in a mostly residential area, and its third-floor hall served local groups as a function and meeting space. It is considered locally significant under Criterion A.","narrative":"Built in 1898 at the corner of Washington and Norwell Streets in Dorchester, this three-story brick building was developed by real estate dealer Charles F. Collins, who also designed it. It is Colonial Revival in style, with limestone lintels and sills, brick dentils, a pressed metal cornice and fluted cast-iron storefront columns. Originally it held two stores on the ground floor, offices on the second and a large function hall on the third. It was the only commercial building in the largely residential Mt. Bowdoin area when completed. Over the decades, Jewish merchants and professionals ran businesses here as Jewish families settled in the neighborhood, and the hall, known at different times as Bowdoin Hall, Mt. Bowdoin Hall, New Washington Auditorium and Silver Manor, hosted local organizations. The city took the property in 1980 for unpaid taxes and returned it to private hands in 1998. A rehabilitation for shops and apartments was underway at the time of listing.","period_of_significance":"1898-1955","architect_builder":"Charles F. Collins","architectural_style":"Late 19th / Early 20th Century Revival: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Listed as vacant/not in use, with window openings boarded up; the form says it was being rehabilitated with federal investment tax credits for retail on the ground floor and apartments above.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.277062-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7970/63797052/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/05000559.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000559/b315259e75-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000559/b315259e75-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_CollinsBuilding.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_CollinsBuilding.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797052","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collins_Building_(Boston,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5147355"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/collins-building-05000559/"}