{"nrhp_refnum":"83000725","name":"Times and Olympia Buildings","other_names":["Slocum and Olympia Buildings"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"908-912 and 880-898 Purchase St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.636438189000046,"lon":-70.92608661999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-07-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Two abutting five-story masonry commercial blocks at 908-912 and 880-898 Purchase Street in downtown New Bedford, Massachusetts: the Times Building (1897, originally the Slocum Building) and the Olympia Building (1921).","why_significant":"The Times Building was designed by prominent local architect Nathaniel C. Smith and housed the Times newspaper from 1909 to 1932. The Olympia Building, a fine local example of Georgian Revival design by Mowl and Rand of Boston, gains added importance alongside it. Together they reflect New Bedford's prosperity from cotton textiles and linked the northward growth of downtown around the turn of the 20th century.","narrative":"Two five-story brick commercial buildings stand side by side on Purchase Street in downtown New Bedford. The Times Building, completed in 1897 as the Slocum Building for a furniture merchant, was designed by local architect Nathaniel Cannon Smith in grey Roman brick with limestone trim. The Times newspaper occupied it from 1909 until 1932, when it merged with a rival to form the Standard Times. The Olympia Building followed in 1921, designed by Mowl and Rand of Boston in pressed red brick and limestone with Georgian Revival detailing. Together the two form a U-shaped complex around a rear service court. Both rose on the site of the Greek Revival Parker House Hotel, built in 1834 for John Avery Parker. They reflect the wealth that cotton textiles brought to New Bedford after whaling declined, and they helped extend the business district northward. Both survived early 1970s urban renewal demolitions nearby.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900- (specific dates 1897; 1921)","architect_builder":"Nathaniel Cannon Smith (Times Bldg.); Mowl and Rand (Olympia Bldg.)","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival (Olympia Building)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in commercial use; the form lists the property as occupied with work in progress, and plans call for restoring the Olympia Building's original storefronts.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.545549-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/10/7944/63794410/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000725.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000725/32231d23ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000725/32231d23ff-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Times_and_Olympia_Buildings,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Times_and_Olympia_Buildings,_New_Bedford_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"80000430","name":"Central New Bedford Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/central-new-bedford-historic-district-80000430/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794410","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_and_Olympia_Buildings","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7806572"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/times-and-olympia-buildings-83000725/"}