{"nrhp_refnum":"90000016","name":"Saco-Lowell Shops Housing Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Oak, William, Butts, and Saco Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.30771145700004,"lon":-71.21989503458651,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small residential historic district of fourteen houses in Newton Upper Falls, Newton, Massachusetts, on two blocks bounded by Oak, Saco and Williams Streets. Eight brick Colonial-style workers' houses were built in 1919-1920 on a plan by Maurice Roscoe of The Housing Company.","why_significant":"It is the only known enclave of twentieth-century workers' housing in Newton, built near the Saco-Lowell Shops factory. The brick houses are also notable as variants of the Colonial style, with gabled, gambrel and lean-to roofs unified by brick construction, small scale and segmental window openings. The nomination cites criteria A and C.","narrative":"Fourteen houses on two small blocks near Oak Street in Newton Upper Falls make up this district, which is the only known enclave of twentieth-century workers' housing in Newton. Eight of the houses are small brick dwellings built in 1919 and 1920 for the Saco-Lowell Shops, the textile machinery company that grew from Otis Pettee's 1831 works and was Newton's largest employer by the 1890s. The company proposed the development in 1919, using a plan by Maurice Roscoe of The Housing Company. The houses are brick variants of the Colonial style, with gabled, gambrel and lean-to roofs, segmental window openings and small scale. Larger two- and three-family buildings add Greek Revival-type entry surrounds with sidelights and cast stone lintels. Six older wood-frame houses and the surrounding mix of nineteenth-century and later housing differ in character. The district is significant for its workers' housing and for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1919-1920","architect_builder":"Maurice Roscoe, managing architect, The Housing Company","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival (brick variants with gabled, gambrel and lean-to roofs)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; general condition is described as good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.169612-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/7915/63791584/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/90000016.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000016/91081d4520-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/90000016/91081d4520-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewtonMA_SacoLowellShopsHousingHistoricDistrict.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:NewtonMA_SacoLowellShopsHousingHistoricDistrict.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791584","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saco%E2%80%93Lowell_Shops_Housing_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7396883"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/saco-lowell-shops-housing-historic-district-90000016/"}