Arlington Center Historic District
Also known as: See Also:Arlington Center Historic District (Boundary Increa
The pin is a point inside the NPS boundary polygon, not a surveyed location.
Why it's listed
Arlington's town center is a one-block district where Massachusetts Avenue meets Pleasant Street, holding the town's main civic, religious and educational buildings along with a landscaped memorial garden and an old burial ground. Its structures include the Federal-style Whittemore-Robbins House from about 1800, the sandstone Robbins Library of 1892, the Robbins Memorial Town Hall of 1913 and the 1894 Central Junior High School. The First Parish Unitarian Church of 1857, designed by Richard Bond, stood at the corner until it was destroyed by fire in 1975. The site has served as a religious and civic focus since the 1730s, when the first meetinghouse was built near a junction of several early roads. The district was listed because it traces the town's growth, includes notable architecture, and shows how buildings of different uses and styles can share a consistent scale. The garden contains sculptures by Cyrus Dallin.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the district reflects many aspects of Arlington's growth and has long been the town's religious and civic center. It contains architecturally distinguished buildings, notably the Robbins Library and the Whittemore-Robbins House. It is also presented as a good example of mixed urban fabric, where buildings of differing function match in scale and proportion and act as a buffer between commercial and residential areas.
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) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 74000361, listed July 18, 1974. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Bounded by Massachusetts Ave. and Academy, Pleasant and Maple Sts., Arlington |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | July 18, 1974 |
| Reference number | 74000361 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architect / builder | Richard Bond (First Parish Church); Cabot, Everett, and Mead (Robbins Library); R. Clipston Sturgis (Memorial Garden and Robbins Memorial Town Hall); Hartwell and Richardson (Central Junior High School, attributed) |
| Architectural style | Mixed: Federal, Romanesque Revival, Second Renaissance Revival, Classical Revival, Italianate |
| Areas of significance | Landscape Architecture, Art, Architecture |
| Level of significance | State |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Rated in good condition when nominated. A 1975 letter reports the First Parish church burned on March 7, 1975; the congregation planned to rebuild. |
| Acreage | 13 |
| Within district | Arlington Center Historic District (Boundary Increase) |
| Coordinates | 42.41495, -71.15534 (NPS GIS) |
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.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 74000361.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4792295
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.