{"nrhp_refnum":"89001609","name":"Fox, Warren, Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"190--196 Middlesex St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lowell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.64066227200004,"lon":-71.31197303699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-10-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A four-story brick mixed-use block at 190-196 Middlesex Street in Lowell, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in 1884 by Warren Fox as a 16-unit apartment house with ground-floor retail space.","why_significant":"The building is presented as a representative and well-preserved example of the commercial and residential development along Middlesex Street in late 19th-century Lowell. It met the need for new housing for mill workers after the corporation boardinghouse system ended. It retains integrity and is significant locally under Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Rising four stories along Middlesex Street in Lowell, this brick block was built in 1884 by Warren Fox. It was designed as a 16-unit apartment house with two ground-floor shops, and it keeps its original plan, including a central wood stair with turned newel posts and a skylight. The facade has cast iron storefronts, a granite lintel carved with the date, brick pilasters, granite sills and lintels, and decorative brickwork such as checkerboard panels and a stepped corbel cornice. Its significance lies in what it shows about Lowell's growth. After the Civil War the corporation-run boardinghouses gave way to unskilled immigrant labor and a need for family housing, and blocks like this one combined retail and rental apartments. Early tenants included a watch and jewelry dealer, and later ones included shoe stores. The design is vernacular Late Victorian commercial, typical of the city, and no architect is known. It is described as one of the best preserved examples of its type on the street, which has lost several similar buildings.","period_of_significance":"1884-ca. 1930","architect_builder":"Built by Warren Fox; architect unknown","architectural_style":"Late Victorian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Retains its original plan; the form states it will undergo certified rehabilitation. Listed current function is work in progress.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.598577-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7956/63795670/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001609.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001609/45803ad3e7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001609/45803ad3e7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Warren_Fox_Building.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:Warren_Fox_Building.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795670","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Fox_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715988"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/fox-warren-building-89001609/"}