{"nrhp_refnum":"80000453","name":"Boston Edison Electric Illuminating Company","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25-39 Boylston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35237815800008,"lon":-71.06352332999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A ten-story early skyscraper with Beaux Arts detailing at Boylston Street and Bumstead Court in Boston's Theatre area. The main section (#33-39) was built in 1906-7 and an addition (#23-27) followed in 1922.","why_significant":"The form describes it as a notable Beaux Arts skyscraper by a well-known Boston architectural firm, solidly built and well preserved. It contributes to the streetscape, though the two-stage construction leaves it lopsided, as if a west section were missing. It is part of a multiple resource area covering Boston's theater and music-industry buildings.","narrative":"This ten-story office building stands at Boylston Street and Bumstead Court in Boston. It was built as headquarters for the Edison Electric Illuminating Company, with the main section, #33-39, constructed in 1906-7 and a matching addition, #23-27, completed in 1922. Winslow & Bigelow designed the first phase; the successor firm, Bigelow & Wadsworth, carefully matched its style and materials in the second. The design shows Beaux Arts detailing: banded rustication on the second floor, a stone balcony on heavy console brackets, a cartouche over the entrance with a mosaic Edison inscription, copper torcheres in third-story niches, and a bracketed stone cornice. Because it was built in two stages, the composition appears lopsided under the strict symmetry of Beaux Arts classicism. Edison used it as offices into the 1950s, after which it became stores and offices. The first floor has been heavily altered, but the upper building is well preserved. It sits at the edge of the Piano Row district.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architects: Winslow & Bigelow (1906), Bigelow & Wadsworth (1922). Builders: Whidden & Co (1906), Geo. B. H. Macomber (1922).","architectural_style":"Beaux Arts","criteria":[],"status_note":"Used as Boston Edison offices through the 1950s, then sold and converted to stores and offices. First floor heavily altered; condition described as well preserved.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.754164-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7927/63792741/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000453.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000453/d6f1815e7d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000453/d6f1815e7d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"tiZom","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_Edison_Electric_Illuminating_Company,_Boston,_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">tiZom</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:Boston_Edison_Electric_Illuminating_Company,_Boston,_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792741","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Edison_Electric_Illuminating_Company_building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4947892"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/boston-edison-electric-illuminating-company-80000453/"}