{"nrhp_refnum":"89001547","name":"Buttrick, Francis, Library","other_names":["Waltham Public Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"741 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37645268000006,"lon":-71.23933221099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick and sandstone public library building at 741 Main Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, built in 1915 in the Georgian Revival style to designs by the Boston firm Loring and Leland.","why_significant":"The library has played a major part in the educational, cultural and social life of Waltham since 1865. The 1915 building is an elegant example of Georgian Revival design and the most outstanding public building of its style in the city. It was funded by a bequest from the real estate owner and philanthropist Francis Buttrick.","narrative":"Waltham's main public library at 741 Main Street is a brick and sandstone building completed in 1915 and dedicated that December. Boston architects Loring and Leland designed it in the neo-Georgian manner. The principal block has a semicircular portico with composite capitals of acanthus and papyrus leaves, a main entry under a broken pediment and flaming urn, round-headed windows with Gothick tracery, palladian windows and a roof balustrade. The Children's Room and Fiction Room occupy the wings. A 1933 rear addition, the Sears Memorial Gallery, housed paintings by Charles H. Woodbury. The library grew from collections donated to the town in 1865 by the Rumford Institute and others. The present building was paid for by a 1894 bequest from Francis Buttrick, a carpenter who became the city's largest real estate owner. It replaced the old Central House tavern, demolished in 1914. It is considered the city's finest public building of its style and an important local cultural institution.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Loring and Leland (Loring & Leland); 1933 addition by Charles G. Loring","architectural_style":"Georgian Revival (neo-Georgian)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Described as in good condition and still in use as the library; a rear addition was built in 1933.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.063113-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7916/63791648/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001547.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001547/7e5f9b5836-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001547/7e5f9b5836-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Buttrick_Library.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Francis_Buttrick_Library.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791648","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Buttrick_Library","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5480388"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/buttrick-francis-library-89001547/"}