{"nrhp_refnum":"82004430","name":"Lyman Block","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"83-91 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Brockton","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":42.08369631000005,"lon":-71.02020736899993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story, twelve-bay red brick commercial building at 83-91 Main Street, at the corner of Main Street and Legion Parkway in downtown Brockton, Massachusetts, built in 1876. The architect and builder are unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent example of 19th century commercial development. It was built as the new home of furniture and casket makers Howard Clark & Co. Together with the adjoining Howard Block, it forms part of the largest and most prominent group of 19th century buildings left in Brockton, and became a focal point of the Main Street business district after the 1979 fire that destroyed the Bixby Block. It is listed under criteria B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1876 at the corner of Main Street and Legion Parkway in downtown Brockton, this four-story, twelve-bay commercial block is faced in red brick with brownstone lintels and sills and a console-bracketed sheet metal cornice. Incised floral ornament marks the lintels, and granite quoins frame the facade and separate it from the matching Howard Block next door. It was built as the new home of Howard Clark & Co., furniture and casket manufacturers, and named for Lyman Clark, the firm's oldest partner and a major Brockton real estate owner. Upper floors housed a mix of tenants, including a dentist, lawyers and several shops. Over time the tenants shifted toward light industry, and by the 1960s only a pool hall remained upstairs. Many original granite storefront columns were removed by later shopkeepers. In 1979 a 1910 rear addition was removed and the upper floors became elderly housing. The building is significant as part of Brockton's largest surviving 19th century commercial block.","period_of_significance":"1876","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Upper floors were converted to elderly housing in 1979; a 1910 rear addition was removed at that time. Ground floor retains commercial use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.021389-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/14/7965/63796514/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004430.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004430/5631dbb015-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004430/5631dbb015-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lyman_Block,_Brockton_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:Lyman_Block,_Brockton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796514","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyman_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6708005"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/lyman-block-82004430/"}