Methuen is a 23-square-mile city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 53,059 at the 2020 census. Methuen lies along the northwestern edge of Essex County, just east of Middlesex County and just south of Rockingham County, New Hampshire. The city is bordered by Haverhill to the northeast, North Andover to the southeast, Lawrence and Andover to the south, Dracut to the west, Pelham, New Hampshire to the northwest, and Salem, New Hampshire to the north. Methuen is located 17 miles (27 km) southwest from Newburyport, 30 miles (48 km) north-northwest of Boston and 25 miles (40 km) south-southeast of Manchester, New Hampshire.
The National Register of Historic Places is a United States federal official list of places and sites considered worthy of preservation. In the state of Massachusetts, there are over 4,300 listings, representing about 5% of all NRHP listings nationwide and the second-most of any U.S. state, behind only New York. Listings appear in all 14 Massachusetts counties.
This list is of that portion of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) designated in Essex County, Massachusetts. The locations of these properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in a map.
First Baptist Church is an historic Baptist church building at 30 Park Street in Methuen, Massachusetts. Built in 1869 for a congregation established in 1815, it is one of the town's finest examples of Carpenter Gothic architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The Lawrence Street Cemetery, or more commonly known as "the Village Burying Ground", is a historic cemetery on Lawrence Street in Methuen, Massachusetts.
Bellevue Cemetery is a historic cemetery in Lawrence and Methuen, Massachusetts. Established in 1847 and owned by the city of Lawrence, it is the first and principal cemetery of the city and a notable example of a rural cemetery. In conjunction with adjacent cemeteries and Lawrence's High Service Water Tower and Reservoir, it provides part of the small city's largest area of open space. The cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Arlington Mills Historic District encompasses a major 19th century textile manufacturing complex in Lawrence and Methuen, Massachusetts. Developed between 1865 and 1925, it was one of the state's largest textile operations at its height. At the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985, the mill complex was owned by Malden Mills.
The Urias Hardy House is a historic house at 50 Brown Street in Methuen, Massachusetts.
The High Service Water Tower and Reservoir, colloquially known as the Tower Hill Tower, is a public water supply facility off Massachusetts Route 110 in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The reservoir was constructed in 1874–75 to provide the city's public water supply, with a gatehouse designed by Charles T. Emerson, a Lawrence architect. The tower was built in 1896 as a high pressure standpipe or water tower. The tower stands 157 feet (48 m) high, and is built out of red brick with granite trim. It is Romanesque in its style, and was designed by George G. Adams, a noted local architect who had been taught by Emerson. The standpipe inside the tower is of steel construction and is 102 feet (31 m) in height. The area above the standpipe includes a balcony capped by a chateauesque roof, with round-arch windows providing views of the area. The main tower is octagonal in shape, with a narrow round staircase tower projection from one side.
The Methuen Water Works is a historic water works building on Cross Street in Methuen, Massachusetts. Built in 1893 or soon thereafter, it was one of the city's first major public works project. The surviving building, designed by Ernest N. Boyden, is a distinctive local example of Romanesque architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It now houses offices of the city's water department.
House at 9 Park Street is a historic house in Methuen, Massachusetts.
The house at 526 Prospect Street in Methuen, Massachusetts is a well preserved Greek Revival house built about 1840. It is located near the city's historic early center, and was probably first occupied by farmers. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The House at 491 Prospect Street in Methuen, Massachusetts is locally significant as an excellent example of a Shingle Style house of the type built for well-to-do businessmen in Methuen and Lawrence around the turn of the 20th century. The three-story wood-frame building was built c. 1900. One of its principal decorative features at the time of its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 was a Palladian window in the gable, around which square-cut shingles had been arranged in a keystone motif. This detail has since been lost due to the application of new siding.
The House at 136 Hampstead Street in Methuen, Massachusetts is a well-preserved rural Greek Revival farmhouse. It is a nearly square 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house, with a side gable roof and clapboard siding. It has four window bays on the gable end, two on each side of a central doorway, and five bays on the longer side. The doorway on the gable end retains a decorative surround with a glazed transom and narrow pilasters. The house is representative of rural agricultural development that took place in Methuen to provide goods to the growing cities of Lawrence and Lowell.
113–115 Center Street is a historic two-family house in the Arlington Mills district of southern Methuen, Massachusetts. Built about 1880, it is a rare surviving example of the type of worker housing built early in the expansion of the Arlington Mills. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The North Canal Historic District of Lawrence, Massachusetts, encompasses the historic industrial heart of the city. It is centered on the North Canal and the Great Stone Dam, which provided the waterpower for its many mill complexes. The canal was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, while the district was first listed in 1984, and then expanded slightly in 2009.
Old Town Farm is a historic poor farm building in Methuen, Massachusetts. The brick two story building was built in 1846, after Methuen lost its earlier poor farm due to the loss of part of its territory to newly founded Lawrence. The building is five bays wide and deep, with entries on the front and side; the front entrance is recessed with a fanlight and sidelights. The building has shed dormers that run much of the length of the roofline, and its end walls are topped by parapets and double chimneys, features not seen elsewhere in the town.
The Asie Swan House is a historic house in Methuen, Massachusetts. Built c. 1720, it is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It is a 1+1⁄2-story frame house, five bays wide, with clapboard siding, central chimney, and granite foundation. Its central entrance is flanked by sidelight windows. The house originally stood at a location on Prospect Hill in what is now Lawrence, where it was used for the first town meetings beginning in 1726. It was moved in 1808 to its present location.
The George A. Waldo House is a historic house in Methuen, Massachusetts. Built in 1825 and altered somewhat around 1900 by local philanthropist Edward Searles, it is one of Methuen's finest examples of Federal period architecture. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, and is currently occupied by the Kenneth H. Pollard Funeral Home.
This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Methuen, Massachusetts, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.
