Bigelow Block
building in Massachusetts, United States of America
The Bigelow Block is a historic commercial and residential building at the corner of Forest and Salem Streets in Medford, Massachusetts. The Victorian block was built in 1886 for the locally prominent Bigelow family; it is a four-story brick building with sandstone trim, terra cotta plaques, and copper-clad turret at the corner. It occupies a prominent position in the center of Medford, and is one of few surviving 19th century commercial buildings in the city.
The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Bigelow Block” is building in Massachusetts, United States of America. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Bigelow, Block and building, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “building in Massachusetts, United States of America” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4906804. Authority coordinates are 42.418, -71.110. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1886 and 1975.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Bigelow Block”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Bigelow Block primary sources, Bigelow Block archive and Bigelow research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Bigelow Block”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Bigelow Block” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.