McCafferty, Elizabeth, Three-Decker
Why it's listed
Built around 1894 at 45 Canterbury Street in Worcester, this three-decker is a wood-framed apartment house in the Queen Anne style. It stands in the Cambridge Street area, a low-lying neighborhood shaped by three rail lines that ran out from downtown and by the factories along them. Workers, many of Irish extraction, filled the nearby housing. Elizabeth McCafferty, the first owner, lived here into the 1910s, and tenants included machinists, laborers, a policeman and a clerk. The house has a side-hall plan, a three-tier porch with lathe-turned posts, a three-story projecting bay, clapboard siding with shingle bands, and a hip roof with decorative brackets. It has had no major alterations and its exterior has been restored. It was listed as a well-preserved example of a locally important building type, the multi-family housing of Worcester's industrial working class.
Significance in brief: It is a representative example of the multi-family housing built near the industrial areas on the edge of downtown Worcester in the late 19th century. It is also a very well-preserved and well-detailed local example of Queen Anne three-decker construction. The form finds it significant at the local level under criteria A and C.
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 89002395, listed February 9, 1990. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 45 Canterbury St., Worcester |
|---|---|
| County | Worcester County |
| Listed | February 9, 1990 |
| Reference number | 89002395 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | Queen Anne style Three-Decker |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, European, Architecture, Social History |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Residential use; condition described as excellent, with the exterior recently restored and no major alterations. |
| Acreage | 0.2 |
| Coordinates | 42.24934, -71.81324 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary: it recognises significance and does not restrict what a private owner may do without federal money or permits. It unlocks the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit for income-producing buildings, state credits in many states, and Section 106 review when federal agencies are involved. See what listing means in practice.
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 89002395.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14715456
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.