Melrose Town Center Historic District

Seven buildings on Main Street in Melrose, Massachusetts, form the town's civic, cultural and religious core. Each stands alone in open space, which sets the group apart from the surrounding low commercial blocks and houses. The group includes City Hall (1874, rebuilt after a 1937 fire), the Fire Station (1895), Memorial Hall (1912, built of granite salvaged from the old Boston Courthouse), the First Baptist Church (1907), the Calvin Coolidge School (1898, originally the high school), the First United Methodist Church (1904) and the Methodist Parsonage (1889). A 1945 War Memorial and an 1885 planting urn are also included. The buildings were constructed between 1870 and 1915, when Melrose grew from a farming community into a railroad suburb of Boston, became a city, and saw its population expand almost fivefold. The district was listed for its role in that growth and for its architectural variety. Its buildings remain in use by government, religious and community groups.