{"nrhp_refnum":"89001494","name":"United States Watch Company","other_names":["U.S. Watch Co.","Howard Clock Products"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"260 Charles St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.372579948000066,"lon":-71.24854610399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Former watch factory at 256 Charles Street, Waltham, Massachusetts, built in two stages in 1886 and 1901 by contractor Robert C. Glancy, with a brick powerhouse and a shed behind it.","why_significant":"The plant was a spinoff of the American Waltham Watch Company and, with it, shows the late 19th and early 20th century watch industry that dominated Waltham. It follows the narrow-winged factory format pioneered by the American Waltham Watch Company and shows elements of Romanesque Revival style. It has housed watch or clock manufacturing from 1886 to the present.","narrative":"Built in two stages, in 1886 and 1901, this brick factory at 256 Charles Street in Waltham was first home to the United States Watch Company, a spinoff of the American Waltham Watch Company. The T-shaped plan has a four-story clock tower flanked by three-story wings of 22 bays each, with tall six-over-six windows to light the watchmakers' work. The tower has a round-arched entrance in gauged brick, a circular clock, a deep corbelled cornice and a pyramidal cap. Local contractor Robert C. Glancy built it. The plant closed in 1895, stood vacant until 1901, and was then reopened under new ownership, which added the second wing. The firm later became the E. Howard Watch Works and then Howard Clock Products, which makes clock parts and reproduction clocks. It remains the only timepiece-related industry still operating in Waltham. A brick powerhouse behind the west wing contributes to the property; a shed does not.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Robert C. Glancy (builder)","architectural_style":"Elements of Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition good; no major alterations; still used industrially, the only timepiece-related industry still operating in Waltham.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.636823-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/58/7922/63792258/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001494.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001494/269e553ce5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001494/269e553ce5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waltham_MA_United_States_Watch_Company.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:Waltham_MA_United_States_Watch_Company.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792258","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Watch_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7892296"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/united-states-watch-company-89001494/"}