{"nrhp_refnum":"88000429","name":"Aurora Hotel","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"652--660 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.25944797500006,"lon":-71.80484132899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-04-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A six-story Classical Revival hotel and store building at 652-660 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built in 1897-1898 and designed by the Worcester firm Barker and Nourse.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a well-preserved, high-quality example of Classical Revival commercial architecture and a major work of Barker and Nourse, a leading Worcester firm better known for Romanesque Revival designs. It is also important as one of downtown Worcester's premier hotels in the 1920s and 1930s. Criteria A and C are cited at the local level.","narrative":"Built in 1897-1898 at 652-660 Main Street in Worcester, this six-story hotel and store building was designed by the local firm Barker and Nourse for owner and builder Charles Stevens. Its upper five floors are faced in white marble, with two curved bays that were originally clad in copper and a projecting copper cornice. Decorative panels include a figure of Aurora in her chariot. The building is notable as a Classical Revival design from a firm more often associated with Romanesque Revival work. It began as a high-quality apartment hotel, and a $150,000 remodeling in 1929 made it one of downtown Worcester's premier hotels, a frequent site of social events and public gatherings. Storefronts were changed in 1929, 1937 and 1947, and the copper and much interior trim were sold off in 1982. The hotel closed that year and the city took the property for unpaid taxes. The exterior retains its overall integrity, and the building is listed for its architecture and its role in the city's hotel history.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Barker and Nourse (architects); Charles Stevens (original owner and builder)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use listed as vacant; exterior fair to good, interior poor. The hotel closed in 1982 and the City of Worcester took it for back taxes. Plans call for conversion to 85 low-income housing units.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.016381-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7932/63793217/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/88000429.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000429/c05a49a671-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000429/c05a49a671-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aurora_Hotel,_Worcester_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:Aurora_Hotel,_Worcester_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793217","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Hotel_(Worcester,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4822559"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/aurora-hotel-88000429/"}