{"nrhp_refnum":"05000936","name":"South Boston Boat Clubs Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"1793-1849 William J. Day Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.33149757000007,"lon":-71.06283998899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-09-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Entertainment/Recreation","Maritime History","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A district of four late Victorian waterfront boat clubhouses on Day Boulevard in the City Point section of South Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, built 1898-1901, with the nucleus of one dating to 1874.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that four late Victorian clubhouses on contiguous lots form a node unique within the region, if not the nation. The buildings remain remarkably intact in form, fabric and siting despite mid-20th century alterations. They illustrate the Shingle, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival and Craftsman styles, and the clubs are tied to notable figures in yachting and shipbuilding.","narrative":"Four shingle-clad boat clubhouses line William J. Day Boulevard in South Boston's City Point, facing Dorchester Bay. From west to east they are the Boston Yacht Club (now Boston Harbor Yacht Club), the Puritan Canoe Club, the Columbia Yacht Club and the South Boston Yacht Club. Built on landfill between 1898 and 1901, they sit beside wooden locker buildings, an iron fence and a granite block sea wall. The Boston Yacht Club incorporates part of a clubhouse first built in 1874 on a pier and moved to the new site in 1898. The nomination highlights the group as an unusually extensive cluster of late Victorian clubhouses on adjoining lots, considered unique within the region. Their designs blend Shingle, Queen Anne, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and Craftsman influences. Despite enclosed porches and added picture windows, they retain their form, fabric and siting. Early members included yacht designers and builders and figures such as Benjamin Butler, linking the clubs to American yachting history.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Italian Renaissance Revival, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Bungalow/Craftsman","criteria":[],"status_note":"Clubhouses continue in recreational use; mid-20th century alterations include enclosed porches, removed balconies and picture windows.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.118312-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/37/7969/63796937/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/05000936.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000936/ba1df9d845-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000936/ba1df9d845-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sswonk","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Boston_Boat_Clubs_Historic_District.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Sswonk</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:South_Boston_Boat_Clubs_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796937","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Boston_Boat_Clubs_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7566350"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/south-boston-boat-clubs-historic-district-05000936/"}