{"nrhp_refnum":"97000971","name":"North Terminal Garage","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"600 Commercial St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.36721360750005,"lon":-71.05734986391815,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Transportation","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story reinforced concrete parking garage at 600 Commercial Street, at the edge of Boston's North End, built in 1925 for the North Terminal Corporation to designs by Little & Russell and built by the Aberthaw Company.","why_significant":"The garage is argued to be a rare surviving 1920s parking facility and the city's only multi-story garage built without interior ramps or elevators, using the steep site for street-level access to each floor. It is also noted as the location of the 1950 Brinks robbery. It is considered locally significant under Criteria A and C.","narrative":"Built in 1925 at 600 Commercial Street, on the edge of Boston's North End, this three-story reinforced concrete garage was designed by Little & Russell and built by the Aberthaw Company for the North Terminal Corporation. It cost $400,000 and held about 700 cars, making it one of the largest in the city at the time. Its steeply sloping lot allowed street-level entrances at each floor, so no interior ramps or elevators were needed. A 1929 city directory advertised it as the largest in the East without them. The exterior shows a grid of concrete piers and lintels with brick spandrels and steel windows, while the interior has open floors with mushroom columns. Alterations, mostly at street level, have left the building largely intact. It is described as one of the best-preserved pre-1925 garages still used for public parking. In 1950 it also housed the Brinks vault that was the site of a well-known robbery.","period_of_significance":"1925-1950","architect_builder":"Little & Russell/Aberthaw Company","architectural_style":"Commercial Style","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a public parking garage; exterior finishes are in good condition, with some broken window panes and several altered street-level openings.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.069528-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/7970/63797030/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/97000971.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000971/113b7e85c8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000971/113b7e85c8-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_MA_North_Terminal_Garage.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boston_MA_North_Terminal_Garage.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797030","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Terminal_Garage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7056957"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/north-terminal-garage-97000971/"}