{"nrhp_refnum":"83000792","name":"Church of the New Jerusalem","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"50 Quincy St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37650666300004,"lon":-71.11326142799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-06-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small stone Gothic chapel at Kirkland and Quincy Streets in Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1903 for the New Church Theological School (Swedenborgian) to designs by Warren, Smith & Briscoe.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the chapel is architecturally significant because its design relates directly to the American Gothic chapel tradition, including the churches of Richard Upjohn and St. James-the-Less in Philadelphia, which drew on the English parish church model. It also reflects the Swedenborgian church's presence in Cambridge near Harvard. It is nominated under criterion C.","narrative":"Built in 1903 for the New Church Theological School, a Swedenborgian institution, this small stone chapel stands at Kirkland and Quincy Streets in Cambridge. It is low in scale and built of fieldstone, with sills, lintels and carved detail in white limestone. The Quincy Street facade has a bell in the peaked gable and a low entrance porch with carved floral ornament. Heavy exterior buttresses suggest a masonry vaulted interior, though the actual interior structure is timber. The chapel belongs to an American tradition of Gothic chapels reaching back to St. James-the-Less in Philadelphia, completed in 1848 on English parish church models, and to the churches of Richard Upjohn. Its architectural significance rests on that direct relationship. The church began holding services in Cambridge in 1888, and the school's location near Harvard likely reflects the sect's appeal to Harvard intellectuals. A 1966 office wing is noncontributing but does not detract from the chapel. It still serves as a church.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Warren, Smith & Briscoe; 1966 wing by Arthur H. Brooks, Jr. and Associates","architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; a 1966 office wing on Kirkland Street was added and is noncontributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.508556-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/7906/63790609/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000792.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000792/6ab9dd730d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000792/6ab9dd730d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swedenborg_Chapel,_Cambridge,_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swedenborg_Chapel,_Cambridge,_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790609","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_New_Jerusalem_(Cambridge,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5118016"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/church-of-the-new-jerusalem-83000792/"}