{"nrhp_refnum":"79000333","name":"Lynn Masonic Hall","other_names":["Lynn Young Men's Christian Association"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"64-68 Market St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynn","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.46343746900004,"lon":-70.94919247599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story Victorian Gothic brick building at 64-68 Market Street in Lynn, Massachusetts, built in 1880 to designs by H. J. Preston of Boston. It was built as the Lynn YMCA headquarters and is now Masonic Hall.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a major local example of Victorian Gothic architecture, one of very few surviving in Lynn's central business district after the Fire of 1889 and later demolitions. It is also associated with the Lynn YMCA, said to be the first YMCA building constructed for that purpose in Massachusetts, and later with the Masonic order.","narrative":"Located at 64-68 Market Street in Lynn, this four-story brick block was built in 1880 as the home of the Lynn Young Men's Christian Association and is now Masonic Hall. Boston architect H. J. Preston won a design competition for the building, which cost $57,390 and was finished by January 1881. Its facades use pressed brick with buff sandstone trim, pointed-arch wall panels, decorative brick bands and cast-iron railings above the cornice. A high slate hip-on-hip roof covers an interior auditorium. Apart from a modern storefront and doors on Market Street, the exterior remains largely original. The building matters as one of the last Victorian Gothic structures in Lynn's central business district, where most others were lost to the Fire of 1889 and to demolition in the 1960s and 1970s. It is also said to be the first YMCA building in Massachusetts built for that purpose. The Masonic Lodge rented a hall there early on, and the Masonic Temple Association bought the property in 1922.","period_of_significance":"1880","architect_builder":"H. J. Preston","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and occupied; owned by the Lynn Masonic Temple Association since 1922, with a modern storefront and modern doors on the Market Street facade.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.528006-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/7950/63795002/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/79000333.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000333/8902bd329f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79000333/8902bd329f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lynn_Masonic_Hall,_Lynn_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lynn_Masonic_Hall,_Lynn_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795002","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Masonic_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6709122"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/lynn-masonic-hall-79000333/"}