Oxford-Crown Extension District

This residential district in Worcester, Massachusetts, extends the neighboring Oxford-Crown Historic District across Austin, Chatham, Congress, Crown and Pleasant Streets. Most of its buildings date from about 1851 to 1870, when the streets were opened and quickly filled with side-hall houses with gabled or pedimented facades. Early residents were artisans, small-scale manufacturers and businessmen. Many houses are Greek Revival, while others mix that style with Italianate brackets and porches. Rarer examples include 98 Austin Street, one of the city's few temple-front Greek Revival houses, and 16 Congress Street, a three-and-a-half-story architectural curiosity. Along Pleasant Street, brick apartment and row house blocks from 1870 to 1888 reflect late nineteenth-century redevelopment of main roads. Granite walls, gate posts and stairways add to the area's character. Together with the adjoining district, it preserves a large share of one of Worcester's earliest residential neighborhoods.