{"nrhp_refnum":"89000756","name":"Yale Avenue Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"16--25 Yale Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50473050000005,"lon":-71.07436035908015,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential historic district of eight contiguous houses along Yale Avenue, just west of the town common at the southern end of Main Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts. The street was laid out in 1863 and the houses date from about 1863 to 1896.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that Yale Avenue is the best preserved of Wakefield's earliest neighborhoods developed after commuter rail service to Boston began. Prosperous Boston businessmen built large, stylish houses here, giving a fine collection of Italianate, Second Empire (Mansard), Stick, and Queen Anne residences. The district reflects the first phase of Wakefield's change into an affluent commuter suburb.","narrative":"Yale Avenue is a short residential street of eight contiguous houses west of Wakefield's town common. It was laid out in 1863 on land once owned by tin ware manufacturer Burrage Yale. After his death the land was divided into house lots that were quickly bought and built on, mostly by Boston businessmen who could commute by rail. The resulting houses are large, well built and richly detailed. Four are Italianate, and the others show Mansard, Queen Anne, Stick and Colonial Revival styles. Examples include a ca. 1865 Italianate house with quoins and paired brackets, a Mansard-roofed house of 1863, and one of only three Stick Style houses left in town. Few irreversible changes have occurred, and several properties keep their carriage houses, barns or garages. The district was listed for its architecture and for showing how Wakefield grew into a prosperous suburb of Boston in the later nineteenth century.","period_of_significance":"1860-1900","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate, Second Empire (Mansard), Stick, Queen Anne, with one Colonial Revival house","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential, and the houses are in good condition with few irreversible alterations. Four have aluminum siding or asphalt shingles on one or more sides.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.385919-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/83/7917/63791783/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000756.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000756/97bb11ffed-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000756/97bb11ffed-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WakefieldMA_YaleAvenueHD.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WakefieldMA_YaleAvenueHD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791783","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yale_Avenue_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8047348"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/yale-avenue-historic-district-89000756/"}