{"nrhp_refnum":"89001504","name":"Lawton Place Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Lawton Pl. between Amory Rd. and Jackson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.374738093000076,"lon":-71.23028368599995,"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":"A small residential historic district on Lawton Place in Waltham Center, Massachusetts, made up of three c1817 double houses on the south side and a 12-unit rowhouse of 1889 on the north side. The street was laid out in 1889 near River Street.","why_significant":"The south-side double houses are described as the oldest boarding houses associated with a full-process textile mill in the United States, built for Boston Manufacturing Company workers. The 1889 rowhouse is the last of a line of company row housing that began with the 1816 Long Block. The street was also part of the final phase of company-related residential development over the George Lawton estate.","narrative":"Lawton Place is a short street in Waltham Center holding four buildings tied to the Boston Manufacturing Company, the first full-process textile mill in the United States. Three double houses on the south side date from about 1817 and were built as boarding houses for mill workers. They were moved to the street in 1889 from the edge of Waltham Common. They are boxy two-and-a-half-story buildings with six-bay facades, paired center entries and two rear ells, and later siding and entry changes. The 1889 rowhouse on the north side holds twelve units and was the last of the company's row-housing type, which began with the 1816 Long Block, demolished when the houses were moved. The Waltham houses served as the prototype for boarding houses at Lowell's Merrimack Manufacturing Company. The street follows a former garden path on the estate of George Lawton, a company executive. The district was listed for its association with early industrial worker housing and for its architecture, with an exception for moved buildings.","period_of_significance":"1815-1889","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal (c1817 double houses); Italianate (1889 rowhouse)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Residential use; general condition stated as good. The double houses have vinyl or asbestos siding and some altered entries.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.112762-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7922/63792244/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001504.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001504/ea205fd6d7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001504/ea205fd6d7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WalthamMA_LawtonPlaceHD.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:WalthamMA_LawtonPlaceHD.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792244","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawton_Place_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715664"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/lawton-place-historic-district-89001504/"}