Moody Street Historic District | |
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| Location | Moody and Crescent Sts., Waltham, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°22′18″N71°14′16″W / 42.37167°N 71.23778°W Coordinates: 42°22′18″N71°14′16″W / 42.37167°N 71.23778°W |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Romanesque |
| MPS | Waltham MRA |
| NRHP reference # | [1] |
| Added to NRHP | March 09, 1990 |
The Moody Street Historic District is a historic commercial district at Moody and Crescent Streets in Waltham, Massachusetts. It consists of eight commercial properties facing Moody Street as it runs south from the Charles River toward Newton. The area was developed between about 1880 and 1950, and is a reminder of the city's economic prosperity in that time. [2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. [1]
Waltham is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, the city was a prototype for 19th century industrial city planning, spawning what became known as the Waltham-Lowell system of labor and production. The city is now a center for research and higher education, home to Brandeis University and Bentley University. The population was 60,636 at the census in 2010.
The Charles River is an 80-mile-long (129 km) long river in eastern Massachusetts. From its source in Hopkinton the river flows in a northeasterly direction, traveling through 23 cities and towns before reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston. The Native-American name for the Charles River was Quinobequin, meaning "meandering".
Newton is a suburban city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of downtown Boston and is bordered by Boston's Brighton and West Roxbury neighborhoods to the east and south, respectively, and by the suburb of Brookline to the east, the suburbs of Watertown and Waltham to the north, and Weston, Wellesley and Needham to the west. Rather than having a single city center, Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the population of Newton was 85,146, making it the eleventh largest city in the state.
One of the most prominent buildings in the area is the Cronin's Landing complex, located at the north end of the district between Crescent Street and the river. This architecturally eclectic building was built in stages between 1879 and 1930, serving most notably as a department store. Predominantly Art Deco in its styling, it also has Panel Brick and Colonial Revival elements. [2] It has been rehabilitated into residences on the upper floors and retail space on the first floor.
The building at the northeast corner of Moody and Pine Streets (240-254 Moody) is the only single-story building in the district. It was built in the 1930s, and features modern storefronts separated by ziggurat-style stone piers. Across Pine Street stands a two-story Georgian Revival building (266-274 Moody), built c. 1900. It also has modern storefronts, with Doric piers in between, and an unaltered second story facade. At the southeastern corner of the district stands the four story brick Romanesque Revival building built for the Ancient Order of United Workers in 1887. [2]
The southwest corner of the district is anchored by the Art Deco F. W. Woolworth building, built 1948-49; the storefront still shows evidence of its use as a Woolworth store, and is one of the city's finer examples of Art Deco styling. Next to this building stands the Lincoln building, a Romanesque Revival structure built in 1887 that once housed the Adams Department Store. A small modern brick building stands north of the Lincoln building, and does not contribute to the district's significance. The Hall building, a two-story brick Georgian Revival building, anchors the southwest corner of Moody and Crescent Streets, across Crescent Street from the Cronin building. [2]
The F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company and one of the original pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was arguably the most successful American and international five-and-dime business, setting trends and creating the modern retail model that stores follow worldwide today.
