{"nrhp_refnum":"83000814","name":"Lovell Block","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1853 Massachusetts Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.38738559800004,"lon":-71.11909317099997,"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 combined commercial and residential brick block at 1853 Massachusetts Avenue in the Porter Square area of North Cambridge, Massachusetts, built in 1882 for Andrew Jackson Lovell. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is significant under Criterion A for its link to the development of the North Avenue community in the later nineteenth century. It is significant under Criterion C for its unduplicated architectural style and quality. It offered relatively expensive rental flats, a post office and a grocer in an area that otherwise lacked them, and it remains largely unchanged inside and out.","narrative":"Built in 1882 at 1853 Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge, this brick block combined shops on the ground floor with four well-appointed flats above. Andrew Jackson Lovell had it built, and the ground floor held a branch of his grocery business and a purpose-designed North Cambridge post office. It stood beside the Fitchburg Railroad depot in Porter Square, an area that grew as a transportation hub and a suburb for Boston businessmen. Flats of this kind were rare in Cambridge, where most multifamily housing took the form of tenements or row houses. The building uses the panelled brick variant of the Queen Anne style, with a corbelled cornice and a three-part arch framing a signet stone bearing the builder's name and date. The interiors show a free interpretation of the Eastlake style, and original plumbing fixtures, radiators, dumbwaiters and gas lighting jets survive. Its listing rests on its association with the neighborhood's development and its distinctive architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne - Panelled Brick","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as substantially unchanged from its original appearance, with original use continuing as residential/commercial.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.63866-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/7905/63790500/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000814.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000814/b7dbb8d3d0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000814/b7dbb8d3d0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lovell_Block,_1853_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4637.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lovell_Block,_1853_Massachusetts_Avenue,_Cambridge,_MA_-_IMG_4637.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790500","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovell_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6692202"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/lovell-block-83000814/"}