The 1860s Colton's Block on Main Street

Step into Colton's Block, a series of historic commercial buildings in the heart of downtown on the west side of Main Street 588. The complex consists of three separate four-story brick buildings with nearly identical styling. These buildings are the only surviving examples of a commercial building style that was common in Worcester at the time. Built in the 1860s, they were likely constructed by Samuel Colton, a local real estate developer who also published the Worcester Spy.

The three buildings are each four bays wide, with a single storefront on the ground floor and a central entrance providing access to the upper floors. The buildings are articulated by slightly projecting piers, which rise to a band of corbelled brickwork and a common projecting cornice studded with paired brackets. The leftmost building has slightly larger windows on the second floor than those elsewhere, an alteration dating to about 1900.

The earliest documented occupants of these buildings were dry goods retailers and wholesalers. The structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and are now mostly occupied by residences.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons