{"nrhp_refnum":"76001966","name":"Grace Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Common and Jackson Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lawrence","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.70878541400003,"lon":-71.15747755399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-11-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Grace Episcopal Church is a stone church on a half-acre corner lot at Common and Jackson Streets in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The present building was erected in 1851 and dedicated in 1852, with a 1895 addition and later parish house.","why_significant":"The church was founded in 1846, five months before Lawrence was established as a town, and is tied to the Lawrence family, for whom the town was named and several of whom served as clergy and later bishops. It is also significant architecturally for its association with Hammatt Billings and with Ralph Adams Cram's firms, which enlarged and furnished it.","narrative":"Grace Episcopal Church occupies a half-acre corner lot facing the Common in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Built in 1851 and dedicated in 1852, it is a simple rectangular auditorium of random ashlar stone with a gabled front, three pointed-arch entrances, three lancet windows over the center bay, and a stone bell housing at the gable peak. A one-story addition came in 1895, when the young firm of Cram, Wentworth, and Goodhue drew plans for a new chancel and side wings. A Tudor Revival parish house was added in 1929, with a contemporary base added in 1958. The parish was founded in October 1846, five months before the town was established, and the first wooden chapel was designed by Hammatt and Joseph Billings of Boston. Members of the Lawrence family, for whom the town is named, served as rectors and curates, and several clergy became Episcopal bishops. Cram and Ferguson later produced interior work including choir stalls, sacristy and organ.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Hammatt Billings, Ralph A. Cram","architectural_style":"Gothic (Tudor Revival parish house)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church; marked as altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.916237-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7949/63794976/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76001966.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001966/8fda1ca523-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001966/8fda1ca523-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grace_Episcopal_Church,_Lawrence_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Grace_Episcopal_Church,_Lawrence_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794976","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Episcopal_Church_(Lawrence,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5591125"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/grace-episcopal-church-76001966/"}