{"nrhp_refnum":"89000712","name":"Item Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"26 Albion St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.503254877000074,"lon":-71.07152522099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial building at 26 Albion Street in Wakefield, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built about 1912 as the home of the Daily Item newspaper. It is a brick and cast stone corner building on a city street.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a well-preserved example of early 20th century commercial design that uses cast stone and large window bays without leaning on historic styles. It also housed Wakefield's dominant daily newspaper, one of the first suburban papers in New England to have its own printing and production plant. It is considered significant at the local level under criteria A and C.","narrative":"Built around 1912 at the corner of Albion Street in Wakefield, this brick commercial building was designed to house the Daily Item newspaper, combining its administration and production under one roof in the center of town. Its construction made use of the latest techniques to provide large window bays. Granite forms the foundation and window sills, while the cornice is cast stone, an economical material that grew more popular in later decades. Piers with copper caps separate the bays along the street facades, and a shed-roof entrance hood on Craftsman-style braces avoids references to earlier styles. The newspaper began in 1894 under Fred Young and later passed to publisher Harris M. Dolbeare, who kept pace with changing printing technology. A Duplex Junior web press arrived in 1913 and the first Linotype machines in 1915. The Item was among the first suburban papers in New England with its own printing plant. One-story additions on the west date from 1935 and 1958, and the building remains in commercial use in good condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early 20th century commercial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good; present use is commercial, and one-story additions were made on the west in 1935 and 1958.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.217321-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/7921/63792116/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000712.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000712/762b6e5b61-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000712/762b6e5b61-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Item_Building,_Wakefield_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:Item_Building,_Wakefield_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792116","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Item_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6094351"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/item-building-89000712/"}