{"nrhp_refnum":"75000249","name":"First Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Magazine and River Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36477200000007,"lon":-71.10497444099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Gothic Revival church at Magazine and River Streets in Central Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1881 and designed by the Boston firm Hartwell and Richardson.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a local landmark on a prominent urban site and the best example of a Gothic Revival church in Cambridge. It also replaced two earlier Baptist churches on the same property and survives as a reminder of the square's more prosperous past.","narrative":"Set alone on a triangle of land at a busy intersection, this brick church is the focal point of Central Square in Cambridge. Built in 1881 to designs by the Boston firm Hartwell and Richardson, it is an L-shaped, two-story Gothic Revival building with a 190-foot corner tower, a rose window above the gabled entrance portico, and lancet windows with geometric stained glass. Terra cotta leaves and flowers decorate the window drip molds and finials, and bands of patterned brick run across the walls. The interior retains its woodwork, stained glass, ventilator grates and some original gas fixtures. The site had held two earlier Baptist churches: a meetinghouse of 1817 that burned in 1866, and a brick Gothic Revival replacement that burned in 1881. The present building was made larger, with walls built to resist fire, and seated 1,000 people. It is valued as a local landmark and as Cambridge's best Gothic Revival church.","period_of_significance":"1881","architect_builder":"Hartwell and Richardson","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and nearly original; still in use as a church, occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.635636-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/98/7955/63795598/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000249.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000249/31dd49fc3b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000249/31dd49fc3b-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-First_Baptist_Church_-_Magazine_and_River_Streets,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_3964.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:-First_Baptist_Church_-_Magazine_and_River_Streets,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_3964.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"90000128","name":"Central Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/central-square-historic-district-90000128/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795598","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Baptist_Church_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452364"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/first-baptist-church-75000249/"}