Equestrian statue of Charles Devens

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.

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 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 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.

There are two historic Salisbury Factory Buildings in Worcester, Massachusetts. The first of these, at 25 Union Street, was built in 1879, and is a five-story brick building with modest Victorian Gothic trim. The second, at 49-51 Union Street, was built in 1882, is a three-story brick building designed by local architect Stephen Earle. These two buildings are the only ones that survive of a series of factory buildings built by Stephen Salisbury II and Stephen Salisbury III in the Lincoln Square area north of Worcester's downtown. The Salisburys rented space out to small manufacturers in these buildings, introducing a trend that dominated the industrial development of the city. Most of their buildings were demolished during redevelopment of the area in the 20th century.Both buildings were 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.

The Salisbury House is an historic house at 61 Harvard Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. The Greek Revival building was constructed between 1836 and 1838 by Stephen Salisbury II, son of Worcester merchant Stephen Salisbury I whose 18th century mansion stands nearby. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The two-story wood-frame structure is finished in flushboarded wood treated to resemble stone. Design of the building is attributed either to Elias Carter or Isaiah Rogers (sources disagree).

Tuckerman Hall is a concert hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was built in 1902 in the Neoclassical style and restored in 1999. The architect was Josephine Wright Chapman. It is the home of the Massachusetts Symphony Orchestra. Other current uses include weddings, receptions and other events.

The Whitcomb Mansion (also Whitcomb House) is a historic house at 51 Harvard Street in Worcester, Massachusetts. It is a high Victorian (Queen Anne style) mansion that was built in 1879 as the home of George H. Whitcomb, one of the city's leading businessmen and philanthropists. It is also one of the few surviving houses designed by noted Worcester architect Stephen Earle.George Whitcomb, a Templeton, Massachusetts native, made a fortune in the business of manufacturing envelopes. In addition to this business, he also dealt in real estate in Worcester and elsewhere. He was active in a number of charitable causes, notably educational causes across the country. After his death in 1918, his house was given to the Society for the Blind.The house Earle designed for Whitcomb is an asymmetrical polychromatic three story granite structure measuring 40 feet (12 m) by 70 feet (21 m). Its front facade is divided into three sections, the central one a projecting gable-ended entry. The front door is flanked by sidelights and is topped by a half-round window, all slightly recessed in an archway. Above the door on the second level of the entry section are a pair of windows, in front of which is a decoratively embellished cast iron balcony. The gable also contains a pair of windows, above which the point of the gable is filled with lighter-colored triangular granite stones. The left section of the main facade is two stories, but the roof is pierced by a single steeply-pitched gable dormer. The right section also has a gable dormer, but is truncated because of the presence of a round tower, which is a full three stories high and is topped by a conical roof. Behind the house stands a carriage house, a single story structure built of local stone, topped by a steep slate roof and cupola.The interior of the house has retained some of its original details despite alterations made to accommodate the Society for the Blind's use of the building. The downstairs rooms are decorated in a variety of exotic wood finishes, and the walls and ceilings are covered in decorative paintings. The upstairs rooms are finished in cherry, ash, and maple.The house was listed twice on the National Register of Historic Places: as an individual listing in 1777 (as Whitcomb House) and as part of a multiple resources listing in 1980 (as Whitcomb Mansion).

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 Worcester Art Museum, also known by its acronym WAM, houses over 38,000 works of art dating from antiquity to the present day and representing cultures from all over the world. WAM opened in 1898 in Worcester, Massachusetts, and ranks among the more important art museums of its kind in the nation. Its holdings include some of the finest Roman mosaics in the United States, outstanding European and American art, and a major collection of Japanese prints. Since acquiring the John Woodman Higgins Armory Collection in 2013, WAM is also home to the second largest collection of arms and armor in the Americas. In many areas, it was at the forefront in the US, notably as it collected architecture (the Chapter House, 1932), acquired paintings by Monet (1910) and Gauguin (1921), presented photography as an art form (1904). The Worcester Art Museum also has a conservation lab and year-round studio art program for adults and youth.