{"nrhp_refnum":"80000658","name":"Comfort Station","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Blue Hill Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milton","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.219364589000065,"lon":-71.11782221499993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Entertainment/Recreation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small public rest room building (comfort station) on Blue Hill Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts, built in 1904 for the Metropolitan District Commission and designed by Stickney & Austin in the Swiss Chalet style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that, like other Blue Hills Reservation structures designed by Stickney & Austin, this small building belongs to an important architectural ensemble in the Blue Hills. It also describes the building as having an unusual charm. It is part of the Blue Hills and Neponset River Reservations multiple resource area.","narrative":"Built in 1904 for the Metropolitan District Commission, this small comfort station on Blue Hill Avenue in Milton served as public rest rooms within the Blue Hills Reservation. Designed by the firm Stickney & Austin, it is executed in the Swiss Chalet style, with wood planks laid horizontally as weatherboard on the exterior. The building was altered at an unknown date but has not been moved. Today one room serves as an office while the remainder is unused. Its importance rests on its place among the Blue Hills Reservation structures designed by Stickney & Austin, which together form a notable architectural ensemble. The nomination also remarks on the building's unusual charm, suggesting that its decorative character reflects a late Victorian tendency to disguise basic bodily functions behind polite euphemism. It is included as one component of the larger Blue Hills and Neponset River Reservations multiple resource area in Norfolk County.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Stickney & Austin","architectural_style":"Swiss Chalet","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is an office in one room, with the rest of the building unused. The form notes it has been altered at an unknown date and has not been moved.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.417981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/7927/63792700/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000658.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000658/877593b813-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000658/877593b813-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Comfort_Station_Milton_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Comfort_Station_Milton_MA_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792700","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_Station_(Milton,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5151687"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/comfort-station-80000658/"}