{"nrhp_refnum":"86001748","name":"Newton Lower Falls Historic District","other_names":["See Also:St. Mary's Episcopal Church"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Hagar, Grove, Washington, and Concord Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.32651939600004,"lon":-71.25751093256024,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-acre residential and institutional historic district of fifteen properties in Lower Falls, Newton, Massachusetts, bounded by Concord, Grove, Washington and Hagar streets, with buildings dating from about 1755 to 1900.","why_significant":"The district is described as the last remaining historic-period neighborhood in the former paper-manufacturing village of Lower Falls. It contains mostly Greek Revival houses that retain integrity of workmanship and setting, along with the oldest church and oldest house in the village. The form says it meets criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Fifteen properties on a six-acre block in Lower Falls, Newton, make up a surviving fragment of a 19th-century paper-milling village. Bounded by Concord, Grove, Washington and Hagar streets, the district centers on St. Mary's Episcopal Church, built in 1813 and the oldest religious building in Newton, with its burying ground. The c.1755 Baury House is the oldest building in the village. Along Grove Street stand modest Greek Revival houses and cottages built between 1835 and 1855, many for mill workers and mill-related businessmen; Needham builder William Lyon is credited with several. Hose House #6, a brick Renaissance Revival building of 1900, was the last structure added. Highway construction in the 1950s and urban renewal in the 1970s removed most other mill-era buildings, so this block is the only remaining concentration of pre-Civil War architecture in the village. That survival, tied to the paper industry that shaped Lower Falls, is the basis for its recognition.","period_of_significance":"1810-1860","architect_builder":"William Lyon (Needham builder); Vaughn Jones (attributed); William P. Morse (Hose House #6 designer)","architectural_style":"Predominantly Greek Revival, with Federal, High Georgian, Gothic Revival and Renaissance Revival examples","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Present use is primarily residential; general condition is good. Hose House #6 is now a two-family residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.308664-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7921/63792158/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001748.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001748/a954ca69f9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001748/a954ca69f9-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_NewtonLowerFallsConcordStreet.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:NewtonMA_NewtonLowerFallsConcordStreet.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792158","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Lower_Falls_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7020305"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/newton-lower-falls-historic-district-86001748/"}