{"nrhp_refnum":"11000069","name":"Grace Universalist Church","other_names":["Grace Unitarian Universalist Church","St. George Hellenic Orthodox Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"44 Princeton Boulevard","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.635015460000034,"lon":-71.33286262599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-03-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick church with an attached vestry at 44 Princeton Boulevard in the Highlands neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts, built in 1895-1896 for the Universalist congregation and now used as St. George Hellenic Orthodox Church.","why_significant":"The church is notable for its 70-foot diameter masonry dome, built by Rafael Guastavino, Jr., and for its eclectic Late Victorian design mixing Romanesque, Beaux Arts and Classical Revival motifs. It also records the Universalist movement in Lowell, a mill city where Universalists took up workers' rights and social reform, and the congregation's move to the newly developed Highlands. The excerpt does not state the criteria or period of significance.","narrative":"Grace Universalist Church, at 44 Princeton Boulevard in Lowell's Highlands neighborhood, is a 2½-story brick church with an attached vestry, built in 1895-1896. Its two-towered front facade is Romanesque Revival in design, while the whole building mixes Romanesque, Beaux Arts and Classical Revival motifs. Its most notable feature is a 70-foot diameter masonry dome built by Rafael Guastavino, Jr. from interlocking terra-cotta tiles, which forms the ceiling of the sanctuary. The congregation grew from Universalist societies founded in Lowell in the 1820s and 1830s, whose members backed abolition and the welfare of mill workers. Moving from Shattuck Street, the church followed middle- and upper-class residents to the newly developed Highlands. The building later became St. George Hellenic Orthodox Church, and 1970s changes added an iconostasis and painted icons. A circa 1838 George Stevens organ moved from the earlier church remains in the choir loft. The church is still in religious use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Rafael Guastavino, Jr. (dome)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Victorian Eclectic (Romanesque, Beaux Arts, Classical Revival motifs)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility; the Orthodox congregation uses the building today.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.824736-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/7960/63796045/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/11000069.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000069/77e2929d65-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000069/77e2929d65-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LowellMA_StGeorgeHellenicOrthodoxChurch.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:LowellMA_StGeorgeHellenicOrthodoxChurch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796045","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Universalist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16982430"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/grace-universalist-church-11000069/"}