{"nrhp_refnum":"84000406","name":"Arlington-Basswood Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Lawrence, Alder, Arlington, and Juniper Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lawrence","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.71900750000006,"lon":-71.16946985696197,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 10.74-acre residential historic district of about 89 properties in northeastern Lawrence, Massachusetts, bounded by Lawrence, Arlington, Juniper and Alder Streets. Most of the buildings are three-decker houses built between 1909 and 1925.","why_significant":"The district concentrates early twentieth century three-deckers built for working-class families, many employed in Lawrence's textile mills. Three-deckers are less common in Lawrence and the Lower Merrimack Valley than in Fall River or Worcester, so a comprehensive group within one subdivision is locally significant. The district is argued to meet Criterion C as a distinct example of early twentieth century residential architecture in a New England textile center.","narrative":"Arlington-Basswood is a compact neighborhood of about 89 properties in northeastern Lawrence, Massachusetts, covering six blocks and 10.74 acres. Nearly all of it consists of wood-frame three-decker houses built between 1909 and 1925, with a few cottages and two-family homes. Typical buildings rise three stories under flat roofs with bracketed cornices, clapboard and shingle siding, and tall front porches with Doric columns, in a Classical Revival manner. The land was once farmland, later bought by a land agent for the Arlington Mills to house workers. When the mill expanded, the parcel was auctioned in 1909 as 112 lots with graded streets and sewer connections. Close to streetcar lines and a school, it filled quickly with working-class families employed in local mills. Three-deckers are less common in Lawrence than in Fall River or Worcester, so this uniform, nearly continuous streetscape is notable. It was listed for its architectural cohesion and its record of working-class housing in a textile city.","period_of_significance":"1909-1925","architect_builder":"Local carpenters; architect unknown","architectural_style":"Classical Revival style three-decker houses","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Most buildings remain intact, though poor maintenance and aluminum siding have altered some. The district also contains two non-contributing commercial buildings, fourteen cinderblock garages and sheds, and several vacant lots.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.368688-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/7948/63794836/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84000406.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000406/3b56e647a0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000406/3b56e647a0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LawrenceMA_ArlingtonBasswoodHD.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LawrenceMA_ArlingtonBasswoodHD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794836","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington%E2%80%93Basswood_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4792259"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/arlington-basswood-historic-district-84000406/"}