{"nrhp_refnum":"80000458","name":"Piano Row District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Boston Common, Park Sq., Boylston Pl. and Tremont St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.35235629400006,"lon":-71.06473672999994,"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":"Piano Row District is a commercial district in Boston's theatre area, centered on Boylston Street, Tremont Street, Park Square and Boylston Place, near Boston Common. It contains late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings.","why_significant":"The district is described as significant for the quality of its architecture and for its link to Boston's music industry, especially piano manufacturing and music publishing. Its buildings are said to have achieved significance between about 1890 and the 1930s. It forms part of the Boston Theatre multiple resource area, which also reflects the growth of theaters and movie houses.","narrative":"Piano Row is a group of late 19th and early 20th century commercial buildings in downtown Boston, running along Boylston and Tremont Streets, Park Square and Boylston Place beside Boston Common. The buildings reflect the city's music trade, particularly piano manufacturing and music publishing. One example is a 10-story marble Renaissance Revival office building at 178-179 Tremont Street, built for the Oliver Ditson Company, which in 1917 was the country's largest music publishing business. Other buildings include the Little and Colonial Buildings on Boylston Street, the Walker Buildings and the Hotel Touraine. The area was surveyed in 1979 as part of a study of Boston's theatre area, and its buildings are noted for the quality of their architecture and for achieving significance between about 1890 and the 1930s. The district is generally well maintained, privately owned and in commercial use, and its styles vary but belong to the turn of the century.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Turn-of-the-century styles, not uniform; includes Renaissance Revival (178-179 Tremont Street office building)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Area described as well maintained, privately owned and commercial in use. Letters in the file mention alterations and water damage at one building on Boylston Street.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.202431-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/69/7927/63792769/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000458.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000458/2adc8473a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000458/2adc8473a4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Swampyank at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piano_Row_District_Boston_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Swampyank at en.wikipedia</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:Piano_Row_District_Boston_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792769","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Row_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7190142"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/piano-row-district-80000458/"}