{"nrhp_refnum":"96000475","name":"Webster-Lane House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"304 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Gloucester","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.61554693000005,"lon":-70.65705016299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-04-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival single-family house at 304 Main Street on Union Hill in Gloucester, Massachusetts, built between about 1840 and 1845 for Nathaniel Rowe Webster. It has a two-and-a-half-story main block with two rear ells, a granite retaining wall and a cast iron fence.","why_significant":"The house is described as one of the most distinctive Greek Revival houses remaining in Gloucester, with an Ionic verandah and few alterations. Its early owners, the Webster ice-dealing family and the Lane fish-merchant family, were closely tied to the city's maritime industries. It is significant locally under Criteria A and C for architecture and commerce.","narrative":"Perched at the top of Union Hill in Gloucester, this Greek Revival house at 304 Main Street was built between about 1840 and 1845 for Nathaniel Rowe Webster, a blacksmith who became the city's pioneer ice dealer. Its two-and-a-half-story main block is wrapped on the south and east sides by a verandah carried on eight fluted Ionic columns, the building's most important feature. Corner pilasters, flushboard siding and a severe entablature give it a restrained Regency character. A granite retaining wall with nine steps fronts the lot, and an Italianate wing with an oriel was added in the 1870s or 1880s, probably by Samuel R. Lane. Lane's sons ran a long-established fish business on the waterfront. A 1978 survey found no other Gloucester house of comparable design quality. The house is significant for its architecture and for its links to the ice and fisheries trades, with a period of significance from about 1840 to 1945. It remains a single-family home.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1840-1945","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; described as generally well preserved. One verandah column was recently replaced and another removed for repair.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.215756-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7901/63790144/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/96000475.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000475/71508143ef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000475/71508143ef-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ymblanter","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webster_Lane_House_Gloucester.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ymblanter</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:Webster_Lane_House_Gloucester.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790144","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster-Lane_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7978880"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/webster-lane-house-96000475/"}