BlockBefore
Photograph of Mechanics Block Historic District
Photograph by EraserGirl, CC BY 2.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Mechanics Block Historic District (Boundary Increase)

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. 16 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.

From the record

One of 480 National Register listings published here for Essex County · listed in 1978 · category: District.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • Address. 38-52 Union St., Lawrence
  • When was it listed? May 1978
  • Category. district
  • National Register reference number. 78000451 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

83 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 83 fires within 5 miles of Mechanics Block Historic District (Boundary Increase) between 2003 and 2020, burning about 25 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 5 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined19
Smoking18
Debris and open burning11
Recreation and ceremony7
Misuse of fire by a minor7
Equipment and vehicle use6
Power generation/transmission/distribution5
Arson/incendiarism5
Railroad operations and maintenance4
Natural1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
24 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 September 2020Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
14 September 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlNORTH ANDOVER
8 August 2016Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLAWERANCE
8 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLAWERANCE
8 August 2016Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlLAWERANCE
5 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMETHUEN

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Mechanics Block Historic District (Boundary Increase): 3 past producers, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 plant. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Perlite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Wittemore Perlite PlantPerlitePlant
Rocco Zambino and Sons, Inc. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sand & Gravel OperationSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Sand and Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Torromeo Trucking CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Torromeo Trucking Co., Inc. PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Maps showing this location

16 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Essex Company Machine Shopunder 500 feet1972
Mechanics Block Historic Districtunder 500 feet1973
Buildings at 24-30 Summer St.under 500 feet1985
Essex Company Offices and Yard0.2 miles1979
Jackson Terrace Historic District0.2 miles1984
Grace Episcopal Church0.2 miles1976

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 78000451 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 480 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.