{"nrhp_refnum":"88002752","name":"Varnum Building","other_names":["United Building"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401--405 Bridge St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.65038232400008,"lon":-71.30330622899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-12-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story wood-frame commercial and residential building at the corner of Bridge and Third Streets in the Centralville section of Lowell, Massachusetts, built in 1882 by brothers Daniel and Leavitt R.J. Varnum. It has two ground-floor stores and apartments above.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant under Criterion A for its link to major real estate development in Centralville by the Varnum brothers. It is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved Queen Anne commercial building with tenements above, rich in detail such as slate hoods, iron cresting, turned brackets and a corner tower. It is considered probably the oldest intact commercial storefront in this part of Lowell.","narrative":"Standing at the corner of Bridge and Third Streets, this four-story wood-frame building was completed in 1882 by brothers Daniel and Leavitt R.J. Varnum, who bought the lot at auction after the death of an earlier resident. It holds two ground-floor stores and twelve apartments above. A clipped corner bay topped by a square tower with a steep slate roof makes it a landmark near the Central Bridge. Slate-clad hoods, iron cresting, turned brackets and paneled pilasters show its Queen Anne character. The Varnums ran their real estate office here and helped develop much of Centralville, the largely residential area across the Merrimack River from the textile mills. Grocers and later a drugstore occupied the corner shop, and the building was sold out of Varnum hands in 1923. It was rehabilitated in 1985-86 and renamed the United Building. It is listed for its architecture and its role in the neighborhood's commercial and real estate growth.","period_of_significance":"1882-1923","architect_builder":"Unknown (built by Daniel and Leavitt R.J. Varnum)","architectural_style":"Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated in 1985-86 to the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and renamed the United Building; currently used as multiple dwellings with ground-floor commercial space, including a grocery.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.864649-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7956/63795676/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/88002752.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002752/834246b453-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002752/834246b453-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Prosfilaes","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burnt_Historical_Building_in_Lowell_Feb_2010.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Prosfilaes</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:Burnt_Historical_Building_in_Lowell_Feb_2010.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795676","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varnum_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7916061"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/varnum-building-88002752/"}