{"nrhp_refnum":"82001950","name":"Hubbard Park Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Hubbard Park, Mercer Circle and Sparks Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.376716059000046,"lon":-71.13112280099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of about 6.8 acres in Cambridge, Massachusetts, made up of Hubbard Park, Mercer Circle and parts of Sparks Street. It was developed from 1886 to 1907 on the former estate of Gardiner Hubbard.","why_significant":"The district is significant for its association with Gardiner Hubbard, a civic leader who helped found the Cambridge Gas Company, the waterworks and the first horse-car line, and who was involved in the first telephone company and the National Geographic Society. It is also significant as a planned development of fine Queen Anne and Colonial Revival houses designed by leading architects of the day.","narrative":"Hubbard Park is a residential enclave in Cambridge, Massachusetts, laid out on the grounds of Gardiner Hubbard's estate. Hubbard reserved six acres for his 1850 mansion at 146 Brattle Street. Beginning in 1886 he commissioned leading architects to design a ring of fine houses linked by a sweeping driveway around the park. The arrangement gave the grounds a dignified unity and screened off the more modest Foster Street neighborhood to the south. The mansion was demolished in 1939, but the park survives in the form completed by 1907. Most houses are Queen Anne, with notable Colonial Revival examples by Longfellow, Alden & Harlow, and a few Tudor Revival and Georgian Revival designs. Development proceeded slowly rather than with the rapid pace of typical real estate promotion. Hubbard was a civic-minded figure who promoted the local gas company, waterworks and horse-car line, and was later linked to the telephone company and the National Geographic Society. The district includes Hubbard Park, Mercer Circle and part of Sparks Street.","period_of_significance":"1886-1907","architect_builder":"Hill & James; Andrews & Jacques; Cabot & Chandler; Longfellow, Alden & Harlow; F.R. Allen; J.T. Kelley; Edward B. Stratton; Morrill & Kilham; Allen W. Jackson; Newhall & Blevins","architectural_style":"Queen Anne and Colonial Revival","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Uniform in excellent condition, all privately owned and in residential use. Hubbard's mansion at 146 Brattle Street was demolished in 1939.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.066822-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/47/7918/63791847/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001950.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001950/2f2c77880e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001950/2f2c77880e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CambridgeMA_HubbardParkHD.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CambridgeMA_HubbardParkHD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791847","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubbard_Park_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5926884"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/hubbard-park-historic-district-82001950/"}