{"nrhp_refnum":"89001535","name":"Boston Manufacturing Company Housing","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"153--165 River St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37031357800004,"lon":-71.22162586299999,"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":"Two brick double houses at 153-155 and 163-165 River Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, built around 1870 as worker housing for the Boston Manufacturing Company in the Mansard style.","why_significant":"The pair are the only masonry housing built by the Boston Manufacturing Company and are larger and more stylish than other Waltham worker housing. They were probably built for upper-level company employees and reflect the company's expansion in the 1870s and 1880s. The nomination cites criteria A and C.","narrative":"Two brick double houses at 153-155 and 163-165 River Street in Waltham were built around 1870 for the Boston Manufacturing Company. Each is T-shaped, with a four-bay by two-bay main block under a straight-sided Mansard roof. The symmetrical facades have paired narrow entries with transoms, two-over-two windows under raised segmental brick arches, brick string courses, and arched dormers. Number 163-165 keeps its original slates. Their size, brick construction and style set them apart from the company's usual moderately scaled wooden housing, so they were probably meant for higher-ranking employees. They are the company's only masonry housing. Their construction reflects the growth of the textile factory during the 1870s and 1880s, and the mill's prosperity shaped development between Waltham common and the Watertown line. The company sold the houses before 1901 to a Boston real estate investor, who sold them to the Waltham Bleachery in 1906. Both remain in residential use.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mansard","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good; both buildings are in use as double residences. Slate shingles were removed from 153-155 around the 1970s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.999508-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/7922/63792254/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001535.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792254","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/boston-manufacturing-company-housing-89001535/"}