{"nrhp_refnum":"76001963","name":"Lawson Tower","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Off First Parish Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Scituate Center","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.20045303900008,"lon":-70.75540197499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 153-foot shingled tower enclosing a wrought iron water standpipe, located off First Parish Road near Scituate Common in Scituate Center, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. The standpipe was built in 1900 and enclosed in its present tower in 1902.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a significant architectural landmark in Scituate and notes that its shingle covering and architectural detail may be unique in Massachusetts. It also stands as a memorial to Thomas Lawson, the wealthy Wall Street financier who paid for the enclosure so the plain tank would not spoil the view from his nearby estate.","narrative":"Rising 153 feet above a lawn near Scituate Common, this shingled tower conceals a working water standpipe. The wrought iron standpipe, seventy-five feet high, was erected in 1900 by a private water company. In 1902 it was covered with wood and shingle cladding and a superstructure in a high eclectic revival style, with a bell room, clock room, flared conical roof, pagoda-topped dormers and a turret holding a 123-step spiral staircase. Thomas Lawson, a Wall Street magnate building his estate Dreamwold nearby, disliked the bare tank and paid $60,000 to have it enclosed, using a design chosen after an architect sketched towers across Europe. Ten bells connect to a keyboard at ground level, and the clock plays the Angelus twice daily. The tower is still used for the town's water supply. It is regarded as a distinctive landmark closely tied to Scituate's community image and possibly unique in Massachusetts.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"High eclectic revival (listed as Eclectic)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in active use as the town's water supply; recently re-shingled by the Town of Scituate; condition listed as excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.054954-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7966/63796644/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76001963.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001963/fe8ced083e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001963/fe8ced083e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scituate_Lawson_Tower.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">T.S. Custadio aka ToddC4176 at en.wikipedia</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:Scituate_Lawson_Tower.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796644","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawson_Tower","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6505011"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/lawson-tower-76001963/"}