{"nrhp_refnum":"82001993","name":"South Common Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Summer, Gorham, Horndike, and Highland Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.63854820450004,"lon":-71.31075127703133,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Community Planning and Development","Politics/Government","Architecture","Invention"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 40-acre historic district about one-third mile southwest of downtown Lowell, Massachusetts, centered on the 22.5-acre South Common set aside by the city in 1845 and the houses, churches, schools, courthouse, jail and mill around it.","why_significant":"The district contains mid-19th century houses built for Lowell's growing merchant class, architecturally distinguished civic and institutional buildings, and Hood's Sarsaparilla Laboratory, an internationally known mill. Its 1845 common is significant as an early example of open space planning in the city. The nomination argues it meets criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Southwest of downtown Lowell, the South Common is a 22.5-acre green space set aside by the city in 1845 after the Proprietors of Locks and Canals sold off surplus land. Around it grew a neighborhood of about 40 acres with 17 houses, three churches, three schools, a courthouse, a former jail and a mill. Highland and Summer Streets hold Italianate, Second Empire and Stick style homes built for merchants and manufacturers. Ammi B. Young designed the 1850 Middlesex County Courthouse, Lowell's earliest and finest Romanesque Revival building, and Olin Cutler added a large front section in 1897. The granite Lowell Jail dates from 1856. St. Peter's, St. John's and Eliot churches add Gothic Revival design. Hood's Sarsaparilla Laboratory, finished in sections between 1882 and 1893, was the largest patent medicine factory in the world by 1893. Today the common holds courts and a pool alongside walkways and plantings.","period_of_significance":"1845-1933","architect_builder":"Ammi B. Young, Cutler and Merril, S.S. Woodcock, Patrick C. Keely, James Rand","architectural_style":"Italianate, Second Empire, Stick, Romanesque Revival, Renaissance Revival, Gothic and Queen Anne","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"The former Lowell Jail has been vacant since the early 1970s, with reuse plans underway; the other buildings are described as occupied and in use, and the common has recreational facilities.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.997634-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7958/63795844/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001993.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001993/2aa51ea8df-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001993/2aa51ea8df-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lowell_MA_South_Common_Historic_District.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:Lowell_MA_South_Common_Historic_District.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795844","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Common_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7566884"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/south-common-historic-district-82001993/"}