{"nrhp_refnum":"89002374","name":"Elm Street Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"132--148 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.26597800000005,"lon":-71.81677510168426,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","European","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1.5-acre residential historic district on Elm Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, made up of a row of Queen Anne style three-decker houses facing Elm Park, built between 1904 and 1906.","why_significant":"The row is significant as an unusual, fashionable park-side group of three-deckers built as status rental housing for white-collar professional and managerial families. The houses are also a well-detailed, finely designed group of Queen Anne three-deckers with large dimensions and extensive multi-tier porches. It meets criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Elm Street in Worcester holds a row of three-decker apartment houses facing Olmsted-designed Elm Park. Built between 1904 and 1906, the district covers 1.5 acres and includes eight contributing and nine noncontributing buildings, the latter mostly modern garages. Most of the houses are Queen Anne in style, with side-hall plans, hip roofs, irregular massing, textured surfaces and large multi-tier porches with lathe-turned posts. The house at 148 Elm Street mixes Queen Anne and Shingle elements, including a corner turret and gambrel roofs. Five of the nine houses were developed by Charles W. Bowker, a local merchant, as premium rental property. Their park-side location, close to the city's main high-style residential area, drew tenants such as teachers, clerks, managers, agents and a clergyman. The district was listed for its association with this status rental development and for the quality of its Queen Anne three-decker design.","period_of_significance":"1904-1906","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Queen Anne (with 148 Elm Street a mix of Queen Anne and Shingle styles)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; general condition is described as fair to excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.78672-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/9/7934/63793409/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89002374.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002374/083f470e41-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002374/083f470e41-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pvmoutside","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elm_St_Historic_District_Worcester_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pvmoutside</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:Elm_St_Historic_District_Worcester_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793409","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Street_Historic_District_(Worcester,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5366339"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/elm-street-historic-district-89002374/"}