Waltham, Massachusetts

The Central Square Historic District is a historic district encompassing the central town common of the city of Waltham, Massachusetts, and several commercial buildings facing the common or in its immediate vicinity. The common is bounded by Carter, Moody, Main, and Elm Streets; the district includes fourteen buildings, which are located on Main, Elm, Lexington, and Church Streets, on the north and east side of the common. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.Although Waltham was settled in the 17th century and incorporated as a town in 1738, it had no recognizable town center until the 1830s, when the nearby Boston Manufacturing Company gave the town the land that now serves as its central square. The area was further enhanced as a central location by the arrival of the railroad, and the construction of the Moody Street bridge across the Charles River, both in the 1840s. Waltham was incorporated as a city in 1884. Its City Hall, a 1924–26 Georgian Revival building designed by William Rogers Greely, stands on the common at the corner of Main and Elm Streets. The oldest municipal building in the district is the 1887 fire station at 25 Lexington Street; it is a brick Queen Anne structure designed by local architect Samuel Patch. It stands next to the 1890 police station building, designed by Hartwell & Richardson. A row of commercial buildings stand across Main Street, facing the common. Many of these were designed by architect Henry W. Hartwell, as was the Music Hall building at 15 Elm Street. Most of these buildings were built between 1880 and 1920.

The James Swasey House was a historic house at 30 Common Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built c. 1846, the 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was a well-preserved example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture, of a sort that were typically built at the time as housing for local mill workers. James Swasey, the carpenter who built the house, and his wife occupied the house into the 20th century.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Sometime thereafter it was demolished or moved; a modern condominium stands at the site now.

The Daniel French School is a historic school building at 38–40 Common Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built in 1847 by a prominent local educator, it is a well-preserved example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture, and is important for the role it played in Waltham's 19th century educational environment. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It is now a residential duplex.

The First Parish Church is a historic church at 50 Church Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, whose Unitarian Universalist congregation has a history dating to c. 1696. The current meeting house was built in 1933 after a fire destroyed the previous building (the congregation's third) on the same site. It is a Classical Revival structure designed by the nationally known Boston firm of Allen & Collens. The church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

Waltham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Waltham, Massachusetts. It serves the Fitchburg Line. It is located in downtown Waltham adjacent to Central Square (Waltham Common). The station is the transit hub of Waltham, with MBTA bus routes 61, 70, 553, 554, 556, and 558 stopping on Carter Street adjacent to the station.

The Josiah Beard House is a historic house at 70 School Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built about 1844, it is a well-preserved local example of a side-hall Greek Revival house. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The William Gibbs House is a historic house in Waltham, Massachusetts. Built c. 1830–54, this 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house is one Waltham's few temple-front Greek Revival houses. It has four two-story Corinthian columns supporting a fully pedimented gable with a deep, dentillated cornice. It was probably built in the 1840s by William Gibbs, a hat manufacturer, and was sold by him to another hat maker who lost it to foreclosure.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church Complex is a historic multi-building church complex at 133 School Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. Established as a parish in 1835, it is the city's oldest Roman Catholic establishment. Its 1858 Romanesque Revival church and 1872 Second Empire rectory are particularly fine architectural examples of their styles. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Marshall Smith House is a historic house at 26 Liberty Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built c. 1846–47; it is one of the city's few side-gable Greek Revival houses, with a single-story Doric porch spanning the main facade, a full entablature, and pedimented gable ends. The porch balustrade is a later addition, as are the western ell and northern window bay. Marshall Smith, the first owner, was a chair and harness maker.The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The old Waltham High School (located at 55 School Street) was constructed in 1902. Designed by Samuel Patch and Robert Glancey, it follows the local contemporary style of Romanesque and Classical Revival architecture. Expanded in the 1920s, the building eventually fell out of favor and was replaced with the current Waltham High School at a different location in 1969. It was used as the Central Junior High School in the 1970s and 1980s. The old Waltham High became defunct by the 1990s and sat empty for many years. The building was ultimately reoccupied; the additions constructed in the 1920s were removed, restoring the school to its 1902 appearance, and a modern addition was added directly behind the old building, which left the historical structure as the façade. The new construct, known now as John W. McDevitt Middle School (named for a former superintendent), entered service in 2003.The old Waltham High building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Boston Manufacturing Company was a business that operated one of the first factories in America. It was organized in 1813 by Francis Cabot Lowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, in partnership with a group of investors later known as The Boston Associates, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. It built the first integrated spinning and weaving factory in the world at Waltham, Massachusetts, using water power. They used plans for a power loom that he smuggled out of England as well as trade secrets from the earlier horse-powered Beverly Cotton Manufactory, of Beverly, Massachusetts, of 1788. This was the largest factory in the U.S., with a workforce of about 300. It was a very efficient, highly profitable mill that, with the aid of the Tariff of 1816, competed effectively with British textiles at a time when many smaller operations were being forced out of business. While the Rhode Island System that followed was famously employed by Samuel Slater, the Boston Associates improved upon it with the "Waltham System". The idea was successfully copied at Lowell, Massachusetts, and elsewhere in New England. Many rural towns now had their own textile mills.

The John M. Peck House is a historic house at 27 Liberty Street in Waltham, Massachusetts. The 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame house was built in 1843 and sold to John Peck, a local hatter and politician. When it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, its well-preserved Greek Revival styling was highlighted. This principally survives in the treatment of the main entry, with a corniced entablature and pilasters. Peck lived in the house just two years, selling it to Phineas Upham, who owned a dry goods business on Main Street. A later owner was Charles Fogg, a major Waltham landowner who probably rented the house out.