Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House (1870)

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Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House
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Location 583 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°22′32″N71°8′45″W / 42.37556°N 71.14583°W / 42.37556; -71.14583 Coordinates: 42°22′32″N71°8′45″W / 42.37556°N 71.14583°W / 42.37556; -71.14583
Built 1870
Architect Bradlee, Nathaniel J.
Architectural style Italianate
MPS Cambridge MRA
NRHP reference #

83000818

[1]
Added to NRHP June 30, 1983

The 1870 Mount Auburn Cemetery Reception House is an historic building that originally served as the reception house of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The building is located at 583 Mount Auburn Street, across the street from the cemetery, and is no longer part of the cemetery. A new reception house was built on the cemetery grounds in 1896. [2]

Mount Auburn Cemetery cemetery in Cambridge and Watertown, Massachusetts

Mount Auburn Cemetery is the first rural, or garden, cemetery in the United States, located on the line between Cambridge and Watertown in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Boston. It is the burial site of many prominent members of the Boston Brahmins, as well being a National Historic Landmark.

Cambridge, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, and part of the Boston metropolitan area.

Contents

Description and history

When Mount Auburn Cemetery was opened in 1831, it quickly developed as a popular outing destination for the local population. Its popularity was such that the first horse-drawn trolley route in New England was built with a terminus at the cemetery's entrance in 1853. Demand for function spaces related to funeral activities also increased, prompting the cemetery trustees to consider building a reception hall. [2]

New England Region of the United States

New England is a region composed of six states of the northeastern United States: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north, respectively. The Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Boston is New England's largest city as well as the capital of Massachusetts. The largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston with nearly a third of the entire region's population, which also includes Worcester, Massachusetts, Manchester, New Hampshire, and Providence, Rhode Island.

The cemetery's first reception house was built in 1870 to a design by Nathaniel J. Bradlee, and is one of only two surviving designs of his in Cambridge. The building was commissioned by the cemetery trustees as a place to hold receptions and other functions. It is a single story building 46 feet (14 m) wide and 30 feet (9.1 m) deep, with a full-width porch supported by four tapered columns, and a projecting center gable supported by two additional columns. The gable and the frieze board above the columns are decorated with incised floral patterns, while the tympanum of the gable end has a cartouche for a clock. [2]

The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. [1] It now houses a funerary monuments company.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Cambridge, Massachusetts Wikimedia list article

This is a list of sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Latitude and longitude coordinates are provided for many National Register properties and districts; these locations may be seen together in an online map.

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