{"nrhp_refnum":"85001332","name":"Saugus Town Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Central St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Saugus","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.465189759000054,"lon":-71.00933216499993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-06-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Education","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Saugus Town Hall is a 2½-story wooden High Victorian civic building on Central Street in Saugus Center, Essex County, Massachusetts, built in 1875 and dedicated in 1877, designed by Lord & Fuller.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it meets Criteria A and C. As a centrally located civic building it reflects the growth of the Saugus community in the 19th century. It is also an outstanding example of High Victorian architecture by a regionally noted Boston firm, and one of few such civic buildings in Massachusetts.","narrative":"Saugus Town Hall, on Central Street in Saugus Center, Massachusetts, is a wooden civic building completed in 1875 and dedicated in 1877. It rises two and a half stories above a granite basement, with a steep compound gable roof in an H plan, two tent-roof cupolas, banded green and grey slate, bracketed cornices and richly incised window trim. Boston architects Lord & Fuller designed it, and local firms and craftsmen carried out the construction. The building was meant to serve a growing town, and it originally held town offices, a second-floor meeting hall, the high school and the public library. Its site was chosen for prominence at a key intersection, and the choice stirred controversy with East Saugus residents. Few High Victorian town halls survive in Massachusetts, where later examples were mostly brick or stone. The exterior remains largely original, and the building still houses town offices today.","period_of_significance":"1875","architect_builder":"Lord & Fuller (architects); J. H. Kilby and Son of Chelsea (construction contract)","architectural_style":"High Victorian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still serves as town offices; interior in good condition with reversible alterations, and the exterior largely original apart from aluminum siding and window changes at the rear.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.235404-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/7948/63794842/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85001332.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001332/f75bc02f94-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001332/f75bc02f94-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Anthony92931","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Town_Hall_front_view.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony92931</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:Town_Hall_front_view.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794842","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saugus_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7427231"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/saugus-town-hall-85001332/"}