Lynn Common Historic District
Why it's listed
Lynn Common Historic District covers about 68 acres at the center of Lynn, Massachusetts, and centers on a park more than half a mile long, bordered by North and South Common Streets. The district includes 60 contributing resources, among them houses, apartment buildings, five churches, a library, an armory, a high school and an outlying burial ground. The Common served as a civic and religious center from the 1680s, when the first meetinghouse was built, and was cleared of buildings and landscaped as a park between the 1820s and the 1870s. It is encircled by a cast-iron fence and holds a Civil War Soldiers' Monument of 1873, a fountain and a bandstand. The surrounding architecture runs from Federal brick houses of the 1820s to Second Empire, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival buildings. Notable works include St. Stephen's Episcopal Church by Ware and Van Brunt, the Lynn Armory, and several designs by Penn Varney.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Styles | Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Shingle Style, Romanesque Revival, Gothic Revival, Renaissance Revival, Classical Revival, Colonial Revival |
|---|---|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Acreage | 68 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Lynn Common Historic District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.