Belmont Railroad Station
Also known as: Belmont Lions Club Building
Approximate location: the National Park Service places this pin arbitrarily within the property, not at a surveyed point (stated accuracy ±12 m).
Why it's listed
Built in 1907-08 at the corner of Concord Avenue and Common Street in Belmont, Massachusetts, this former railroad station is set into a steep embankment that carries the tracks over Concord Avenue. It is a rustic Craftsman building with an uncoursed fieldstone first story, a half-timbered stucco upper story and an overhanging red clay tile roof made by Ludowici-Celadon. Ramped and stepped colonnades of cast stone columns wrap the south, east and west sides. A granite arch bridge, a pedestrian underpass and the embankment complete the group. The project replaced a dangerous at-grade crossing, and town leaders lobbied for a masonry bridge in place of a steel girder design. The station was the fourth to serve Belmont Center, and the railroad had been central to the town's founding. Passenger service ended in the late 1950s, and the building has since served as a Lions Club building. Parts of the colonnade were filled with concrete block in 1973, but the south and west elevations and the interior plan remain largely intact.
Significance in brief: The station and bridge reflect the role of the Fitchburg Railroad in founding Belmont and the 1907 grade-crossing elimination at Concord Avenue. The fourth and last station to serve Belmont Center, it is a distinctive Craftsman-influenced design that is also representative of turn-of-the-century railroad station design.
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 98001443, listed December 4, 1998. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 1 Common St., Belmont |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | December 4, 1998 |
| Reference number | 98001443 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1907-1948 |
| Architectural style | Late 19th and Early 20th Century American: Craftsman |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Transportation, Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Owned by the Belmont Lions since the mid-1950s and used as a club house; passenger service ended in the late 1950s. The north and east colonnades were filled with concrete block in 1973, and the north roof tiles were replaced with asphalt. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 42.39586, -71.17624 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
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 98001443.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4884334
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.