{"nrhp_refnum":"11000161","name":"U.S. Post Office and Courthouse","other_names":["Harold Donahue Federal Building and Courthouse"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"595 Main St","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.26262701300004,"lon":-71.80299417799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2011-04-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A five-story Neo-Classical Revival federal post office and courthouse at 595 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built in the early 1930s (1931 government construction) on a triangular lot, later named the Harold Donahue Federal Building and Courthouse.","why_significant":"The building is presented as an exemplary Neo-Classical Revival federal building that combines Greek and Renaissance Revival elements and conveys a federal presence. It is also placed in the historic context of post offices, courthouses and federal buildings built by the Treasury Department between 1864 and 1939. The significance section of the form is truncated in the supplied text, so the full argument is not available.","narrative":"Standing at 595 Main Street in Worcester, this five-story federal building served as both post office and courthouse and still houses a federal courthouse and government offices. Designed in the Neo-Classical Revival style, it mixes Greek and Renaissance Revival elements. Light gray granite from West Townsend, Massachusetts, clads the lower four stories, with terra cotta on the fifth-story attic and a terra cotta tempietto cupola that is visible looking south from City Hall. Two marble columns from Danby, Vermont, dominate the northeast front, and the terra cotta frieze carries designs such as bull's skulls and ram's heads. The building sits alone on a triangular lot so it can be seen from all four sides. Major changes came in 1972-1973, when postal operations largely left, and in 1994-1995, when a light court was filled with courtrooms and offices. Windows and doors were replaced, yet the exterior keeps most of its integrity. Its listing rests on its architectural character and its place among Treasury Department federal buildings.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Neo-Classical Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used as a federal courthouse and government offices; substantially altered in 1972-1973 and 1994-1995, with windows and doors replaced.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.523415-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/7971/63797184/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/11000161.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000161/f0f2abf2f7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11000161/f0f2abf2f7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Kenneth C. Zirkel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harold_D._Donohue_Federal_Building_and_U.S._Courthouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenneth C. Zirkel</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:Harold_D._Donohue_Federal_Building_and_U.S._Courthouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797184","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_D._Donohue_Federal_Building_and_United_States_Courthouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715507"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/u-s-post-office-and-courthouse-11000161/"}