{"nrhp_refnum":"82001922","name":"Bigelow Street Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bigelow St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.36837199200005,"lon":-71.10509474499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district along both sides of Bigelow Street between Harvard Street and Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, covering about 3.5 acres. The street was laid out in 1868 by Albert Vinal and built up mainly between 1869 and 1874.","why_significant":"The street holds a nearly uniform group of Mansard-style houses built within a short span, with high quality decorative detail and varied plans. Rooflines and setbacks follow the rising slope of the street. The houses were costly for their time and were home to prosperous businessmen and officials. The reviewer cited Criterion C and described the group as a fine row of houses.","narrative":"Bigelow Street in Cambridge is lined with large Mansard-roofed houses built between 1869 and 1874. Albert Vinal laid out the street in 1868 and sold most of the lots to individual housewrights and masons. No two houses are identical, yet the group looks consistent because it was built in a short period. Rooflines and setbacks are uniform and follow the incline of the street, and the houses carry abundant, high quality decorative detail. Each cost about $11,000 when new, a high price for the time. Early occupants included a leather merchant, an iron foundry owner, a government detective, a Clerk of the Courts and the treasurer of a savings bank. One later house, from 1883-84, is Queen Anne in style, and one Mansard house was moved to the street to make way for City Hall. The district covers both sides of the street between Harvard Street and Massachusetts Avenue and remains privately owned, residential and in good condition.","period_of_significance":"1870-1875","architect_builder":"Builders named include Russell Snow (21-23 Bigelow Street); land developed by Albert Vinal, who sold lots to individual housewrights and masons","architectural_style":"Mansard (Second Empire), with one Queen Anne house","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, privately owned and in residential use. One owner filed an objection to listing in 1981.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.890336-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/90/7910/63791090/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001922.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001922/b18d17a17f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001922/b18d17a17f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bigelow_Street_Historic_District_2.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Bigelow_Street_Historic_District_2.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791090","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigelow_Street_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4906819"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/bigelow-street-historic-district-82001922/"}