{"nrhp_refnum":"81000118","name":"Old Post Office Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"360 Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lynn","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.464900330000035,"lon":-70.94789997399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Renaissance Revival post office building at 360 Washington Street in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, designed in 1896 and built in 1897-1898 by unnamed government architects, with later rear additions.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for its association with Lynn's civic growth and as a unique local example of Renaissance Revival architecture. Lynn's rapid business and population growth in the 1880s and 1890s created the need for a large central post office. It retains integrity of location, design, materials and workmanship, with an original exterior apart from replaced main entry doors.","narrative":"Located at 360 Washington Street in Lynn, this two-story post office was designed in 1896 and built in 1897-1898 after Lynn's business and population growth in the 1880s and 1890s created a need for a large central mail facility. An earlier Romanesque Revival design was withdrawn for reasons unknown before the present plan was accepted. The Renaissance Revival building has a granite basement, yellow brick walls and glazed yellow terracotta trim, including modillions, egg and dart mouldings and window surrounds. Its most unusual features are two semicircular corner entry bays on the Liberty Street facade, each framed by polished granite columns with marble Ionic capitals and capped by a copper dome embossed with a fish-scale pattern. A loading platform and a concrete block garage were added to the rear later. Apart from replaced entry doors, the exterior is original. After the 1930s the building served as a Marine Corps armory. It was listed for its link to the city's civic growth and its distinctive architecture.","period_of_significance":"1896","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Renaissance Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied; used since the 1930s as a U.S. Marine Corps Armory, with much of the first story occupied by an economic opportunity center's offices at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.539327-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/7949/63794966/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/81000118.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000118/86b25cc2b4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000118/86b25cc2b4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Post_Office_Building,_Lynn_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_Post_Office_Building,_Lynn_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794966","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Post_Office_Building_(Lynn,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7084771"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/old-post-office-building-81000118/"}