{"nrhp_refnum":"66000132","name":"Boston Athenaeum","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 1/2 Beacon St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35793102200006,"lon":-71.06203602580857,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1965-12-21","areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brown freestone library building at 10 1/2 Beacon Street in Boston, Massachusetts, home of the Boston Athenaeum. The original building was designed by Edward Clark Cabot and built 1847-1849, and a two-story addition followed in 1913-14.","why_significant":"The nomination calls the Athenaeum the largest and most influential of the early proprietary libraries still existing in the United States. Founded in 1807 by private individuals, before the rise of free public libraries, it remains a leading cultural institution and research center. Its collections include large parts of the libraries of George Washington and John Quincy Adams and many Confederate imprints.","narrative":"Located on the south side of Beacon Street in Boston, this brown freestone library houses the Boston Athenaeum, a private institution founded in 1807. Edward Clark Cabot won a design competition for the building, which was constructed from 1847 to 1849. Its facade, modeled on a Palladian palace, looks two stories tall though the interior has three floors. A grand staircase named for Senator Charles Sumner was removed in 1888 to make room for the growing collections. In 1913-14 a Renaissance Revival addition by Henry Bigelow and Philip Wadsworth was set back from the original roofline. The Athenaeum is regarded as the largest and most influential early proprietary library still existing in the United States. It began as a reading room and library, served as the city's first art gallery, and holds more than 600,000 items, including parts of the libraries of George Washington and John Quincy Adams. It also holds many Confederate imprints.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Edward Clark Cabot (1847); Henry Bigelow and Philip Wadsworth (1913-14)","architectural_style":"Palladian palace-style facade (original); Renaissance Revival (1913-14 addition)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good structural condition, regularly maintained, occupied and in use as a library; no major alterations since 1913-14.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 01:58:27.447554-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/79/7938/63793879/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/66000132_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000132/dc7156ff8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000132/dc7156ff8f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Athenaeum,_Boston,_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Boston_Athenaeum,_Boston,_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793879","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Athen%C3%A6um","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q478013"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/boston-athenaeum-66000132/"}