{"nrhp_refnum":"80000491","name":"Holy Cross College","other_names":["Holy Cross College-Fenwick and O'Kane Halls"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Holy Cross College Campus","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.23920031500006,"lon":-71.80794267799996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A college campus area in Worcester, Massachusetts, made up of Fenwick Hall (begun 1843, rebuilt and enlarged 1852-1875, porch added 1907) and attached O'Kane Hall (1895), on Pakachoag Hill at Holy Cross College.","why_significant":"Fenwick and O'Kane Halls were the main buildings of one of Worcester's oldest schools and housed nearly all college activities until 1904. Fenwick Hall preserves features from each phase of its expansion. Their size, hillside site and many towers make them landmarks visible across much of Worcester.","narrative":"Fenwick Hall and O'Kane Hall form the historic core of the College of the Holy Cross on Pakachoag Hill in Worcester. Fenwick Hall began as a brick and granite academy building in 1843. After a fire in 1852 it was rebuilt, then raised a storey, given towers and a mansard roof in 1867, and extended east in 1875. A Corinthian portico was added in 1907. Its Greek Revival origins were largely overlaid by Victorian Gothic and Second Empire elements. O'Kane Hall, designed by Fuller & Delano and built in 1895, is attached to the west end and combines Romanesque and Renaissance Revival details, with an auditorium, gymnasium and classrooms. The school grew from a seminary founded after Reverend James Fitton bought the farm in 1836, and it received a state charter in 1865. Until about 1904 these buildings held nearly all college activities, and their towers remain landmarks seen across the city.","period_of_significance":"1843-1905","architect_builder":"Fenwick Hall: Capt. Edward Lamb (1852-1853), Elbridge Boyden (1867), P.W. Ford (1875); O'Kane Hall: Fuller & Delano (1895); Tobias Boland, builder of the earliest wooden seminary building","architectural_style":"Mixed Victorian: Victorian Gothic, Second Empire and Classical Revival (Fenwick Hall); Romanesque Revival and Renaissance Revival (O'Kane Hall)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Both halls are described as in excellent condition with only minor alterations, in collegiate use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.305589-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/25/7934/63793425/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000491.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000491/0dcf6221c2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000491/0dcf6221c2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"George Rypysc III","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fenwick_Hall_CollegeOfTheHolyCross.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">George Rypysc III</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:Fenwick_Hall_CollegeOfTheHolyCross.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793425","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115704357"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/holy-cross-college-80000491/"}