Salisbury Factory Building

Worcester ( (listen) WUUS-tər, locally [ˈwɪstə]) is a city in and the seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north-northwest of Providence. Due to its location near the geographic center of Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth"; a heart is the official symbol of the city. Worcester developed as an industrial city in the 19th century due to the Blackstone Canal and rail transport, producing machinery, textiles and wire. Large numbers of European immigrants made up the city's growing population. However, the city's manufacturing base waned following World War II. Long-term economic and population decline was not reversed until the 1990s, when higher education, medicine, biotechnology, and new immigrants started to make their mark. The city's population has grown by 28% since 1980, reaching a new all-time high in the 2020 census and experiencing urban renewal. Modern Worcester is known for its diversity and large immigrant population, with significant communities of Vietnamese, Brazilians, Albanians, Puerto Ricans, Ghanaians, Dominicans, and others. Twenty-two percent of Worcester's population was born outside the United States. A center of higher education, it is home to eight separate colleges and universities, including Holy Cross, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), and Clark University. Architecturally, Worcester is notable for its large number of 19th century triple-decker houses, Victorian-era mill architecture, and lunch car diners such as Miss Worcester. Worcester is the principal city of Central Massachusetts, and is a regional government, employment and transportation hub. Since the 1970s, and especially after the construction of Route 146 and interstates 90, 495, 190, 290, and 395, both Worcester and its surrounding towns have become increasingly integrated with Boston's suburbs. The Worcester region now marks the western periphery of the Boston-Worcester-Providence (MA-RI-NH) U.S. Census Combined Statistical Area (CSA), or Greater Boston.

Worcester County Courthouse is a historic Greek Revival and Classical Revival building at 2 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts in the Lincoln Square district and within the historic Institutional District. It was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

The equestrian statue of Charles Devens (also known as the Worcester County Devens Memorial Statue) is a public monument in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Located in front of the old Worcester County Courthouse in the Institutional District, the equestrian statue honors Charles Devens, who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later served as United States Attorney General. The statue was designed by Daniel Chester French and Edward Clark Potter and was dedicated on July 4, 1906.

The Armsby Block is an historic mixed-use residential and commercial building at 144-148 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1885 to a design by noted local architect Stephen Earle, it is a well-preserved example of Panel Brick architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Elwood Adams Store was an historic hardware store at 156 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. At the time of its closing in October 2017, it had been the longest operating hardware store in the United States, having begun business in 1782. The building that the store resided in was built about 1831, and is one of Worcester's oldest commercial buildings. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The William H. Bliss Building is an historic apartment building at 26 Old Lincoln Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1888, the four story brick building is one of the few remnants of a once larger development of apartment blocks north of Lincoln Square; most of the other period apartment blocks in the area were demolished by highway development or urban renewal processes. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Worcester Memorial Auditorium (also known simply as "the Aud") is a multi-purpose arena located at Lincoln Square in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1933 to honor the sacrifices of Worcester citizens during times of war. The building includes a multi-purpose auditorium originally designed to seat 3,500-4,500 people, a smaller entertainment space known as the Little Theater designed to seat 675, and the Shrine of the Immortal, a war memorial with murals by renowned artist Leon Kroll commemorating the 355 soldiers and nurses from Worcester who fell during World War I. The Aud was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as part of the Institutional District. In 2009, Preservation Massachusetts included Lincoln Square on its "Most Endangered Historic Resources" list, because the square's three historic buildings - the Aud, the old Worcester County Courthouse, and the Lincoln Square Boys Club - were all empty or underutilized. In 2016, the City of Worcester engaged the Boston-based Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF) to conduct a feasibility study of the Aud. AHF submitted its final report in February 2019, which recommended that the building become a center for digital innovation, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and the arts. Discussions between AHF and the City are ongoing.

The Thule-Plummer Buildings are a pair of historic brick buildings at 180 and 184 Main Street just north of the main downtown area of Worcester, Massachusetts. The older of the two buildings is the Plummer Building, a five-story brick apartment house built in 1890. It is set back about 50 feet (15 m) from the street, and is set into a steep hillside on the west side of Main Street. A major addition was added to it in 1931, and it was connected to the Thule building by a three-story connector in 1930, although this connection has since been walled off. The Thule Building is a five-story brick building constructed in 1905 to a design by local architect George Clemence. It was built for the Thule Hall Music Association to function as a social center for the city's growing Swedish American community, and consisted of retail space on the ground floor, and three stories of function halls; the fifth floor was taken up by an internal dome over the fourth floor hall. The association was, however, unable to pay its mortgage, and lost the property by foreclosure in 1914. The new owners converted the space to commercial use, and it was occupied by a succession of furniture companies. The same owners purchased the Plummer building, which was converted to commercial use c. 1916.The buildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. The buildings were rehabilitated in 2009, exposing some of the surviving interior decorations. The Thule Building now houses the Worcester Law Library in its upper floors.

The Institutional District of Worcester, Massachusetts is an historic district encompassing a significant concentration of civic and municipal buildings north of the city's downtown area. It is centered on Lincoln Square and Wheaton Square, and includes properties on Main, Salisbury, and Tuckerman Streets. It includes the 1840s Worcester County Courthouse, the War Memorial and Memorial Auditorium, and the former Worcester Historical Society building at 39 Salisbury Street. The 1897 Worcester Art Museum is included in the district, as is the c. 1890 armory building at 44 Salisbury Street. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.Prior to its institutional uses, this part of Worcester was largely owned by the Salisbury family, whose progenitor, Stephen Salisbury I, opened a store at Lincoln Square in 1772. Salisbury's grandson, Stephen Salisbury III, was a major local industrialist, and began donating and selling portions of the family holdings in the 1880s. His donations included land for the Central Church, Boys' Club, Art Museum, Auditorium, and War Memorial. He was a major benefactor of the museum, bequesting it the family collection. The Salisbury Mansion and Store, now owned by the museum, are located just outside this district.

The Gilman Block was a historic commercial building at 207-219 Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. Built in 1896, it was a distinguished local example of Classical Revival and Romanesque styling, reflective of the city's rapid growth in the late 19th century. The building was acquired by the state and demolished in 2004 to provide space for a new courthouse. The courthouse incorporates a part of the facade of the building and has an exposition of its history. It had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000,

Church of Our Saviour (Armenian: Ուսթըրի Սուրբ Փրկիչ եկեղեցի) is an Armenian Apostolic church in Worcester, Massachusetts, known for being the first Armenian church in the Western hemisphere.

The Henry Goulding House is an historic house at 26 Harvard Street in Worcester, Massachusetts< USA. Built in 1850-51 for a major local industrialist, it is one of the city's most opulent Italianate houses. In 1921, the house became the Swedish Lutheran Home for the Aged after the Goulding heirs gave it to the Swedish Lutheran Church of Worcester. The house was owned by Lutheran Social Services, Inc. in 1980 when the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It is now owned by the Sheehan Health Group and is operated as the Lutheran Rehabilitation & Skilled Care Center.