East Main Street Historic District

Four large houses on Main Street in Waltham, just west of Linden Street, make up this small district of about 1.4 acres. Built between 1844 and about 1900, they include a temple-front Greek Revival house, two Italianate houses and an early Colonial Revival house with Queen Anne and Shingle Style touches. The sites once held taverns, shops and houses forming an early village center, but commercial growth slowed after the Boston Manufacturing Company was established in 1813 and the town's focus moved west. By the mid-19th century, Boston merchants and others replaced the older buildings with imposing homes set well back from the road, with granite curbing and posts that still remain. Two of the houses have been sided, yet all keep most of their important architectural features. The Chamberlain House is especially notable as one of few Italianate houses in the city with a cupola. The district is recognized for its history as an elite residential street and for the quality of its architecture.