{"nrhp_refnum":"82004484","name":"Main Street Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"175-299 and 228-274 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Webster","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.04949400000004,"lon":-71.88291848958329,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial historic district of sixteen buildings along Main Street (175-299 and 228-274) in Webster, Worcester County, Massachusetts, most built between 1888 and about 1925. It forms the town's largest concentration of commercial blocks.","why_significant":"The district preserves Webster's most intact section of densely built, row-facade commercial buildings from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It shows the town's turn-of-the-century commercial character and a mix of retail, residential, amusement and office uses. The nomination argues it meets criteria A and C, with the Tracy and Columbia Blocks noted for ornate terracotta and granite trim.","narrative":"Main Street in Webster holds a row of sixteen commercial buildings, two to four stories tall and built out to a uniform line at the sidewalk. Most are brick and date from 1888 to about 1925. Before the Tracy Block went up in 1888, the area was mostly free-standing houses. Development was slow in the 1890s, then picked up after 1900 with speculative and owner-built blocks such as the Tiffany, Racicot, Gilles and Holden Blocks. The Holden Block, built in 1921, housed bowling alleys, pool rooms, stores, an arcade and a dance hall. The Tracy and Columbia Blocks, designed by Worcester architects, keep their terracotta and rock-faced granite trim above the ground floor. By 1925 the street mixed shops, apartments, amusements and offices, a pattern that lasted until postwar shopping centers drew business away. It was listed as the best-preserved part of Webster's central business district, for its architecture and its role in the town's commercial history.","period_of_significance":"1888-ca. 1925","architect_builder":"Various; named architects include J.P. Kingston of Worcester (Tiffany Block, 1900), Amos P. Cutting of Worcester (Tracy Block, 1888), Fuller & Delano of Worcester (Columbia Block, 1892) and Funk & Wilcox of Boston (Holden Block, 1921)","architectural_style":"Varied styles including Queen Anne, Renaissance Revival, Beaux Arts, Classical Revival, Moderne and eclectic; some blocks astylistic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; alterations mostly confined to street-level storefronts, with upper floors largely unaltered. Two attached theaters were excluded because of lost integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.696388-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7972/63797212/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004484.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004484/be8d9f25cb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004484/be8d9f25cb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Downtown_Webster_Mass.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797212","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Street_Historic_District_(Webster,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6736152"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/main-street-historic-district-82004484/"}