{"nrhp_refnum":"86001891","name":"Strong's Block","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1637--1651 Beacon St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.32654482700008,"lon":-71.23100628399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-09-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two and one-half story red brick commercial block at 1637-51 Beacon Street (also 2-12 Windsor Road) in the Waban village of Newton, Massachusetts, built in 1896 and designed by Lewis H. Bacon.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that it is one of Newton's few remaining intact nineteenth-century commercial blocks, with integrity of design and location and a high level of workmanship and materials. It also reflects the suburban growth of Waban, which William C. Strong helped stimulate through the Circuit Railroad and his Windsor Road house lots.","narrative":"Strong's Block is a red brick commercial building at 1637-51 Beacon Street in Waban, a village of Newton, Massachusetts. Completed in 1896 to designs by Lewis H. Bacon, a Waban resident and partner in the firm Hill & Bacon, it rises two and one-half stories and recalls Flemish Renaissance architecture. A slate gable roof with stepped end parapets forms the focal point, and the motif repeats in the center gable of the facade. Decorative brick panels sit beneath the gable and second-story windows, while neighboring windows have jack arches. Apartments occupied the upper floors above ground-level storefronts. Additions on the west side in the 1920s were designed sympathetically. William C. Strong, a prominent local citizen, had the block built for Waban's growing population. He had helped bring the Circuit Railroad through the area in the 1880s and laid out Windsor Road for house lots. It was listed as one of Newton's few intact nineteenth-century commercial blocks.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Lewis H. Bacon (of Hill & Bacon)","architectural_style":"Dutch Colonial Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Recorded in good condition and described as a present commercial block; upper floors were originally apartments with ground-level storefronts.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.162996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7906/63790691/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001891.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001891/75e7a15365-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001891/75e7a15365-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strong%27s_Block,_Waban_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strong%27s_Block,_Waban_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790691","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strong%27s_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7624432"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/strongs-block-86001891/"}