Mission Hill Triangle Historic District

Mission Hill Triangle is a compact Boston district of about 3.2 acres, bounded by Huntington Avenue, Smith Street, Worthington Street and Tremont Street. Most of its 72 contributing buildings are brick row houses built between 1872 and 1892, many faced with brownstone, sandstone or marble. Rhythmic round and octagonal bays, continuous cornice lines and slate mansard roofs give the streets a strong visual unity. Builder George D. Cox laid out Wigglesworth and Worthington Streets, and architects such as John T. Broadhurst, John H. Besarick and Charles A. Halstrom designed groups of houses there. The district also contains the Helvetia apartment hotel of 1885 and the Georgian Revival Esther apartment hotel of 1912. The area is significant for showing how Roxbury changed from a rural place to a streetcar suburb after annexation to Boston in 1868. Its row houses adapt Back Bay and South End styles to a smaller scale for middle and lower class residents, and it keeps a high degree of integrity.