{"nrhp_refnum":"09000252","name":"Safety Fund National Bank","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"470 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fitchburg","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.58278865800003,"lon":-71.79871307899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story steel-frame commercial bank and office building at 470 Main Street in downtown Fitchburg, Massachusetts, designed by H.M. Francis in 1894-1895 in the Renaissance Revival style.","why_significant":"The building is significant locally for its link to the commercial development of downtown Fitchburg and as one of the city's only continuously operated bank buildings. It is also a well-preserved example of H.M. Francis commercial architecture and the only remaining Francis-designed bank in Fitchburg. Its 1934 first-floor remodeling by bank architect Thomas M. James Company is also considered significant.","narrative":"Rising five stories above Main Street in downtown Fitchburg, this steel-frame bank and office block was designed by local architect H.M. Francis and completed in 1895 for Safety Fund National Bank. Its upper floors show Renaissance Revival detail, including carved brownstone arches with egg-and-dart patterns, scallop-shell spandrels, Ionic columns on the fifth story and a copper cornice. The ground floor was remodeled in 1934 by Boston bank architect Thomas M. James Company and again in 1963, when limestone and granite cladding was added. Upper floors originally held a furniture showroom and later housed manufacturers, insurers and other professionals. The building is considered important locally for its role in the commercial growth of an industrial city and for being one of Fitchburg's only continuously operated bank buildings. It is the last surviving bank designed by Francis in the city, and it keeps an 1895 wood staircase and a Damon vault.","period_of_significance":"1894-1959","architect_builder":"H.M. Francis; Thomas M. James","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Renaissance Revival; Other: Stripped Classical Modern","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in bank use on the first floor, with offices on the upper floors; exterior masonry in good condition with localized deterioration and small areas of graffiti.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.919406-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/86/7931/63793186/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/09000252.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000252/ea53f75022-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000252/ea53f75022-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FitchburgMA_SafetyFundNationalBank.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:FitchburgMA_SafetyFundNationalBank.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793186","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_Fund_National_Bank","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16899573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/safety-fund-national-bank-09000252/"}