{"nrhp_refnum":"82001980","name":"Union Railway Car Barn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"613-621 Cambridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37213399500007,"lon":-71.08651726499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick horse car barn at 613-621 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1869 by the Union Railway Company. It is now in commercial use.","why_significant":"The barn is one of the few surviving carbarns of the Union Railway, whose other barns on Mt. Auburn Street and Massachusetts Avenue were drastically remodeled or demolished. It remains relatively intact despite a later storefront and represents an important phase of Cambridge's transportation history. The reviewer also noted its significance as part of the city's development and the role transportation played in it.","narrative":"Built in 1869 by the Union Railway Company, this brick building at 613-621 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was part of a complex of carbarns that housed the company's horse cars near Lambert Street. The railway was founded in 1855 to provide horse car service across the city, with cars running along Cambridge Street by 1856 and half-hourly service from Harvard Square to Boston by 1875. The building is designed in a late Greek Revival manner, with a low-pitched gabled roof and an unusual stepped brick cornice ending in shallow brick piers. A large round-arched window set within a recessed brick arch forms the focus of the facade. The company's other carbarns, on Mt. Auburn Street and Massachusetts Avenue, were drastically remodeled or demolished, which makes this one an unusual survivor. A storefront has altered the first floor, yet the building is relatively intact and now serves commercial uses.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Greek Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Present use is commercial; the first floor facade has been altered by a storefront, but the building remains relatively intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.959953-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7905/63790510/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001980.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001980/662d4e8000-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001980/662d4e8000-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Railway_Car_Barn,_613-621_Cambridge_Street,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4560.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Union_Railway_Car_Barn,_613-621_Cambridge_Street,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4560.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790510","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Railway_Car_Barn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7885988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/union-railway-car-barn-82001980/"}