{"nrhp_refnum":"83000584","name":"Shepard Block","other_names":["Hp-6"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"298-304 Essex St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52156301300005,"lon":-70.89853023799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2014-04-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story row of four red brick Greek Revival rowhouses at 298-304 Essex Street, Salem, Massachusetts, built in 1850-51 for merchant Michael Shepard.","why_significant":"The row is described as a distinguished example of residential construction for investment of its time. It keeps its traditional appearance despite storefronts added around 1890, and retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and associations. Together with the Bowker Block, it anchors Salem's renewal areas along Essex Street. It meets criterion C.","narrative":"Four red brick rowhouses at 298-304 Essex Street in Salem make up the Shepard Block, built in 1850-51 by Michael Shepard, a prominent local merchant who assembled the land in the late 1840s. The three-story Greek Revival row has houses three bays wide, each with two gabled dormers, twin chimneys at the party walls, a granite basement, and brownstone lintels and sills that contrast with the brick facade. Storefronts were added to three of the houses before 1900, and first floors were adapted to commercial use around 1890, yet the row keeps a traditional look. A brick rear ell was added after 1911. Similar structures stand at 5-9 Summer Street and at the Bowker Block on Essex Street, and the two blocks mark the western and eastern edges of Salem's renewal areas. The block was listed for its architecture as a distinguished example of investment housing of its period, and it retains its original location, design, materials and workmanship.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; built by original owner Michael Shepard","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is commercial/residential; storefronts were inserted on the first floor around 1890.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:10:51.799287-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7899/63789941/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000584/b5b15ddd3c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000584/b5b15ddd3c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Fletcher6","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shepard_Block.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Fletcher6</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:Shepard_Block.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789941","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7494416"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/shepard-block-83000584/"}