{"nrhp_refnum":"89000584","name":"House at 59-63 Crystal Street","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"59--63 Crystal St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07486865800007,"lon":-72.02738423399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story multi-family residential building at 59-63 Crystal Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, built around 1899-1904 by an unknown architect, in a mixed industrial and residential neighborhood.","why_significant":"The building is significant as an example of multi-family housing built during the rise of the American Optical Company and the growth of Southbridge's eastern section in the late 19th century. It is representative of the larger houses that replaced earlier cottages near the company. It is significant at the local level under criteria A and C.","narrative":"This two-and-a-half story house at 59-63 Crystal Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, was built between about 1899 and 1904 as multi-family housing. It stands in a neighborhood of mixed industrial and residential character close to the American Optical Company. The front section follows the gable-front, side-hall plan that was the most popular house form in Southbridge and central Massachusetts throughout the second half of the 19th century. Its main decorative elements are the porches, added after 1904, and the shingle trim in the facade gable. Clapboards cover the exterior, and a shed stands on the lot. The house is typical of the larger dwellings that replaced smaller cottages built in the area during the 1870s and 1880s. Around the turn of the century, several existing houses on Crystal Street were enlarged and new ones, some of them multifamily, were constructed as the company grew and the town's eastern section expanded. It was listed for its local architectural and historical importance.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate/Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Recorded in good-fair condition and in residential use; porches were added after 1904, possibly in the early 20th century, and a non-contributing shed stands on the property.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.53034-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7935/63793521/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000584.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000584/f5f18aff93-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000584/f5f18aff93-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:59-63_Crystal_Street,_Southbridge_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:59-63_Crystal_Street,_Southbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793521","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_59%E2%80%9363_Crystal_Street","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5914421"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/house-at-59-63-crystal-street-89000584/"}