Lower Roxbury Historic District

Lower Roxbury Historic District is a compact Boston neighborhood of about 3.2 acres where Tremont Street, Columbus Avenue, Cunard Street and Walpole Street frame a dense cluster of 36 brick buildings. Most are three- to five-story apartment blocks in red, buff or yellow brick, built mainly between 1894 and 1900, with Classical Revival cornices and angled metal-clad bay windows. Storefronts occupy the ground floors along the two main avenues, while side streets are entirely residential. The area was once filled marshland and a mix of factories and frame worker housing. Fire regulations introduced in 1885 required brick construction, and the widening of Columbus Avenue in the 1890s led to the demolition of all frame buildings, which were replaced by the masonry buildings now standing. Boston-area architects experienced in multi-family design shaped the streetscape. The earliest building is a Greek Revival/Italianate structure at 1011-1019 Tremont Street, likely from the 1850s. The district is listed for its architecture and its role in the area's redevelopment.