BlockFrom the form
The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.
1906 OMB No. 1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Registration Form RECEIVED SEP 1 2 1988 NATIONAL REGISTER This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations of eligibility for individual properties or districts. See instructions in Guidelines for Completing National Register Forms (National Register Bulletin 16). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the requested information. If an item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, styles, materials, and areas of significance, enter only the categories and subcategories listed in the instructions. For additional space use continuation sheets (Form 10-900a). Type all entries.
Name of Property historic name City Hall Historic District (Boundary Increase) other names/site number 2. Location street & number city, town state Massachusetts 165 Market Street Lowe11 code 025 county Middlesex N/A not for publication N/A vicinity code 017 zip code 01853 3. Classification Ownership of Property X private public-local public-State public-Federal Category of Property building(s) X district site structure object Number of Resources within Property Contributing Noncontributing 1 buildings sites structures objects 1 0 _ Total Name of related multiple property listing: Number of contributing resources previously N/A listed in the National Register 4.
State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended,1 hereby certify that this * nomination [ Jrequest for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National RegisterofHistoric Places andmeetsthe procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meetsdoes not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet. Signature of certifying official A. alwage fus ,1988 Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission; State or Federal agency and bureau State Historic Preservation Officer In my opinion, the property does not meet the National Register criteria. See continuation sheet. Signature of commenting or other official Date State or Federal agency and bureau 5.
National Park Service Certification 1, hereby, certify that this property is: entered in the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined eligible for the National Register. See continuation sheet. determined not eligible for the National Register. Entered in the Xems3yu Wat1ona1. Register 10/13/88 removed from the National Register. other, (explain:)_ Signature of the Keeper Date of Action 6. Function or Use City Hall Historic District (Boundary Increase), LowelI, Massachusetts Historic Functions (enter categories from instructions) Current Functions (enter categories from instructions) Commerce/Trade . Commerce/Trade 7.
Description Architectural Classification (enter categories from instructions) Renaissance Revival Materials (enter categories from instructions) foundation_ walls granite granite, brick roof other: tar and gravel other cast iron, wood Describe present and historic physical appearance. The City Hall Historic District Boundary Increase. Lowell, adds a single building, the Ayer-McCartin Block, to the seventy-one-building district listec in the National Register in 1975. The contributing buildings in the original district range in construction date from 1823 to the 1920s and include a mix of commercial, residential, and institutional buildings.
Institutional buildings include the Greek Revival-style Worthen Street Methodist Episcopal Church (1842), the Gothic Revival-style Lee Street Church (1850), the Richardsonian Romanesque-style Lowell City Hall (1893)-and Memorial Hall, also The district includes a number of commercial buildings as well--Bon Marche (ca. 1830, with ca. 1860 addition), the 1840s Wentworth Block with later mansard roof, and the Romanesque Revival-style Old Lowell Gas Light Company Office (1860): Also in the district is the ca. 1890-1895 J. C. Ayer Building at 176-190 Middle Street, a five-story, flat-roofed brick commercial building located on Middle Street. Just outside the boundaries of the original district, at 165 Market Street, stands the Ayer-McCartin Block.
Physically linked to the Ayer Building at one time by a bridge, and perhapsby a tunnel, and historically associated with that building as well, the Ayer-McCartin Block is thus being proposed for addition to the City Hall Historic District. A description of the property follows. The Ayer-McCartin Block occupies the entirety of a rectangular lot on the north side of Market Street, five lots east of its junction with Shattuck Street. The property is bordered by a public sidewalk and Market Street to the south, a parking lot to the east, and a service alley to the north; the west wall is a party wall with the neighboring one-story structure. The building is a four-story masonry structure with a rectangular floor plan that rises from a base of trabeated storefronts (south) to a flat roof that slopes northward from a brick parapet at the head of the fourth story.
The building's western ten bays date from ca. 1858, while its eastern four bays were added with nearly identical details around 1867. X See continuation sheet VPS Form 10-000e (8-86) OMB Approvel No. 10240018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number-7 Page - 1 City Hall Historic District (Boundary Increase) Lowell, Massachusetts The facade (south elevation) extends fourteen bays along Market Street. The first story is framed into storefronts by granite piers at the ends of the original building (first and tenth bays from the western end) that support a granite lintel. The eastern four bays are partially supported by an original granite pier and also by brick piers that frame an entry to the upper stories (easternmost bay).
Within this larger frame, storefronts are divided into window and door bays of unequal size by panelled cast-iron piers. Storefronts in the western ten bays have been extensively altered during the mid-twentieth century by the reglazing of display windows with aluminum-trimmed lights and by the installation of a variety of modern doors. An original storefront remains in the eastern four bays; it consists of a recessed center entry that is approached by a low flight of stairs and flanked by four-light display windows set on low wooden kneewalls. The doorway of this storefront has been rebuilt with a wood and plate-glass door (ca. 1920-1940). The entry to the upper stories is recessed in a panelled vestibule that contains four granite steps; the doorway contains an apparently original two-light transom and panelled double doors that appear to have been added in the 1880s or 1890s.
The facade's upper stories are faced with pressed red brick laid in stretcher. bond and trimmed with dressed granite sills. Each story is divided into fourteen bays of equal width, each of which possesses one window (2/2) set in a brick surround with an arched head. The ornamental detail of window surrounds varies by story. Second-story window arches are trimmed with a projecting nood set on brick corbels and trimmed with a brick keystone; thira-story window arches are set on smaller corbels than at the second story and are decorated with a course of brick dentils at the head of the arch. Fourth-story window arches are essentially identical to those of the third story but with smaller corbels and no dentil course. Window arches at all stories retain sections of brown paint or mastic that was apparently applied during the nineteenth century to simulate the appearance of brown sandstone.
Extending across the head of the fourth-story parapet is a cornice composed of a brick frieze, wooden dentils, wooden brackets, and a wooden crown molding; cornice details above the frieze are made of galvanized metal in the building's four eastern bays. The east elevation is currently exposed, although most of its lower three stories were built to be a party wall. Upper sections of the elevation that were built to be exposed are faced with common red brick and pierced by three windows near the north end of the fourth story. The west elevation is a party wall at the first story, above which it is fully exposed. Upper stories are faced with common red brick trimmed with granite window sills.
The second story possesses three evenly spaced windows near the north end of the elevation, while the third and fourth stories each have four evenly spaced windows,several of which retain iron fire shutters. continued OMB Approvel No. 1024-0018 IPS Form 10-000e (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page City Hall Historic District (Boundary Increase) Lowell, Massachusetts The rear (north) elevation is faced with common red brick trimmed with granite sills. While fenestration essentially matches that of the facade, windows are set in undecorated surrounds with segmentally arched heads composed of two rows of headers.
The regularity of fenestration is interrupted by the base of a former smokestack that is embedded in the structure at the seam line between the original building and the added eastern bays. Window and door openings at the first story are irregular in their placement, reflecting numerous perioas of alteration. The property is currently undergoing rehabilitation following the Secretary of Interior's Standards. Archaeology While no prehistoric sites are currently recorded on the property, it is possible that sites are present. At least five known sites are reported in close proximity (within one mile) to the property. In general, however, the potential for significant archaeological remains, either prehistoric or historic, seems low, as a result of intensive development in the area, small lot size, and the fact that the building covers nearth the entire lot. 8. Statement of Significance