{"nrhp_refnum":"80000585","name":"Old State Mutual Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"240 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.26728483900007,"lon":-71.80106689699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three and one-half storey brick commercial building faced with dressed granite at 240 Main Street in downtown Worcester, Massachusetts, dated 1870 on its pediment and built in the Second Empire style.","why_significant":"It is one of the few Second Empire commercial blocks left in Worcester's downtown and is described as one of the city's finest in that style, with a surprisingly formal design for so small a building. It was also built for State Mutual Life Insurance Company, an important local firm led by prominent citizens, as offices shared with another insurer.","narrative":"Built in 1870 at 240 Main Street, this three and one-half storey brick building is faced with dressed granite and shows the Second Empire style in a small downtown Worcester commercial block. Its three-bay facade is arranged around a shallow central pavilion topped by a low pediment bearing the date 1870. Ionic pilasters separate the first-storey bays, pilasters with moulded capitals mark the upper floors, and a mansard roof holds a single dormer with a segmented pediment. It is one of few such blocks remaining in the commercial district. The building was put up around 1870 through a real estate partnership between State Mutual Life Insurance Company and the Merchants' and Farmers' Fire Insurance Company. The two firms shared space until the late 1880s, when State Mutual took over the whole structure. The insurer moved to a larger headquarters at 340 Main Street after 1897. The building later served as a bank and offices, and the center bay was altered, probably in the 1950s.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is as a bank; the center bay has been altered, with the entry moved in, possibly in the 1950s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.697045-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/7928/63792885/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000585.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000585/2c53d2e33c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000585/2c53d2e33c-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:240_Main_Street_-_Worcester,_MA_-_DSC05774.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:240_Main_Street_-_Worcester,_MA_-_DSC05774.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792885","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_State_Mutual_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085086"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/old-state-mutual-building-80000585/"}