Center Village District | |
Location | Main St., Lancaster, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°27′26″N71°40′19″W / 42.45722°N 71.67194°W |
Area | 254 acres (103 ha) |
Built | 1750 |
Architect | Longfellow, A.W.; Multiple |
Architectural style | Colonial Revival, Late Victorian, Federal |
NRHP reference No. | 77000198 |
Added to NRHP | September 15, 1977 [1] |
The Center Village District encompasses the historic village center of Lancaster, Massachusetts. Settled in 1643, it has few traces of its early history, but is now a well-kept rural town center with a predominantly residential and civic character. It includes the First Church of Christ, Lancaster, which is a U.S. National Historic Landmark, [2] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. [1]
The town of Lancaster, the oldest in Worcester County, was settled in 1643 as a trading post, and was incorporated in 1653. Its town center occupies a north-south ridge east and north of a bend in the Nashua River, which serves as the historic district boundary on those sides. The center is roughly linear in shape, extending along Main Street (Massachusetts Route 70) for about 0.8 miles (1.3 km) from its crossing of the river. Near the center of this area is the town common, which is laid out on the east side of Main Street, and is flanked on three sides by civic and religious buildings. The most prominent of these is the First Church of Christ, a masterpiece of neoclassical design by Charles Bulfinch that was completed in 1816. Adjacent to the church are a series of horse sheds. At the opposite end of the common is the town hall, a Colonial Revival work of Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. built in 1908. Between these on the east side of the common stand the Thayer Library, a Renaissance Revival building added in 1868, and the 1904 Classical Revival Center School. [3]
Other public buildings are located in other portions of the district, which is now predominantly residential in character. Although no 17th-century buildings survive, there are a small number of 18th-century houses, and most of the others are from the 19th century. Almost all of these are of wood frame construction and 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 stories in height, giving the district a unifying character. Prominent among these is the Joseph Andrews House (1830), which has a large two-story Greek Revival temple front. [3]
The Ashburnham Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the core of the village center of Ashburnham, Massachusetts in the United States. It is a well-preserved industrial village that experienced its most significant period of growth in the mid-19th century. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Old Douglas Center Historic District encompasses the historic heart of Douglas, Massachusetts. The historic district radiates away from the town common, and is bounded by farmlands and more recent 20th-century development. There are 50 contributing resources in the 192-acre (78 ha) district. Most of the structures are residential houses in Federal and Greek Revival styles. There are a number of institutional buildings, including the 1834 Greek Revival First Congregational Church, the Craftsman-style Douglas Pastime Club building at 22 Church Street, and the c. 1770s Dudley Tavern. The town common and the adjacent Center Cemetery, laid out when the town was incorporated in 1746, are at the center of the district.
The Main Street Historic District encompasses the historic late 19th and early 20th-century commercial heart of Webster, Massachusetts. It consists of fourteen buildings on Main Street in downtown Webster, between High and Church Streets. This area contains the highest concentration of period commercial buildings in the town. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The Lunenburg Historic District is a historic district encompassing the historic center of Lunenburg, Massachusetts. The district is centered on a stretch of Main Street which connects two triangular intersections. It includes many of the town's oldest buildings, including the c. 1724 Cushing House, and the c. 1730 Stillman Stone House. Three of the town's most significant institutional buildings were built before 1850: the town hall, the Congregational church, and the Methodist church. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Westminster Village–Academy Hill Historic District encompasses the historic first town center of Westminster, Massachusetts, as well as its later early-19th century commercial core. Centered at the junction Main and South Streets with Academy Hill Road, it contains fine examples of Colonial, Federal, and Greek Revival architecture, including the 1839 town hall. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
Phillipston Center Historic District encompasses the historic village center of Phillipston, Massachusetts. The town was first settled in 1751 on land grants made in the 1730s, and was incorporated as a separate town in the 1770s. The surviving village center not far from the location of the first settlement, eventually came to include a tavern. After incorporation, the center developed around what is now the junction of the Baldwinville, Petersham, and Templeton Roads, although this took time, possibly because of difficulties associated with the American Revolutionary War. As a result, the district has relatively few properties that date to the 18th century. All of these are modest vernacular residential structures. The town grew only modestly until 1830, after which time its population declined, not reaching the same level until 1980, 150 years later. As a result of the lack of growth, most of the properties in the district are Federal and Greek Revival in character. Many of the institutional buildings in the center date to the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
The Harvard Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the traditional village center of Harvard, Massachusetts, USA. The district is centered on the town common, a triangular grassy space bounded by Elm Street, Still River Road, and Ayer Road. The common is ringed by residences, civic and religious buildings, and a small commercial area. The common was laid out when the town was founded in 1732, and has grown, mainly in periods of growth at the late 18th and late 19th/early 20th centuries. Most of the village's buildings post-date 1831. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The North Village Historic District encompasses a well-preserved 19th-century rural village on North Main Street in Lancaster, Massachusetts. The district includes a collection of houses, most dating to the first half of the 19th century or earlier. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The Shrewsbury Historic District encompasses the historic early center of the town of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts. It consists of the town common, laid out in 1721 at what are now Main and Prospect Streets, and buildings adjacent or nearby. The district was declared locally in 1972, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The Sutton Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the center of the village of Sutton, Massachusetts. The district, which covers 435 acres (176 ha), is centered on the junction of Boston Road, Singletary Avenue, and Uxbridge Road. Boston Road is a major east–west route through the town, and the other two roads run north–south through the village center. The Colombian building was built in 1957. A typically rural village center, its civic and institutional buildings are clustered near the intersection on its south side, in the general area of the town common. The town common and cemetery were laid out in 1719, after settlement of the township began in 1716. There are a few surviving houses that date to the middle of the 18th century or earlier; exact dates for most are uncertain. There are only a few institutional buildings: the 1829 Congregational Church, the 1983 Town Hall, built on the site of the town's first purpose-built town hall (1885), and Rufus Putnam Hall, an 1824 school building and Masonic lodge that now houses the local history museum. Only one commercial structure the 1839 Brick Block, stands in the village. There is also a historic animal pound, a rectangular stone structure used to pen stray livestock, which dates to the early days of the town.
The West Granville Historic District is a historic district encompassing the center of West Granville, Massachusetts. The village is composed mainly of buildings form the late 18th and early 19th centuries, including an 18th-century church and 1830s academy building. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.
The Bradford Common Historic District is a historic district encompassing the former town center of Bradford, now a village of Haverhill, Massachusetts. Centered on the former town common at South Main and Salem Streets, the area served as Bradford's civic and commercial center from about 1750 until its annexation by Haverhill in 1897, and retains architecture from the 18th to early 20th centuries. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
The Wayland Center Historic District encompasses the predominantly 19th-century village center of Wayland, Massachusetts. Located at the junction of United States Route 20 and Cochituate Road, it includes fifteen well-preserved 19th-century buildings that form one of the best-preserved village centers of that period near Boston. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
The Lyme Center Historic District encompasses a modest crossroads and industrial village in rural Lyme, New Hampshire. The predominantly residential district stretches along Dorchester Road, on either side of its junction with Baker Hill Road. The village's rise in development started in the early 19th century as it was at a crossroads of the east-west Dorchester Road, and the north-south Baker Hill Road and Acorn Hill Road. The village grew rapidly in the 1820s, with a number of simple Greek Revival houses, and in 1830 the Baptist Church was built. The other major civic building in the village is the Lyme Academy, built in 1839, albeit with more Federal than Greek Revival styling. Grant Brook, which runs parallel to Dorchester Road, provided a source of power for the growth of small industrial efforts, including a sawmill at the corner of Dorchester and Baker Hill Roads. This industry provided a second minor building boom in the late 19th to early 20th century. Most of the houses in the district are vernacular Greek Revival or Cape in their styling; probably the most elaborate Greek Revival house is the 1857 Beal-Pike House at 41 Dorchester Road.
The Hancock Village Historic District encompasses the town center of Hancock, New Hampshire. It extends the length of Hancock's Main Street, from Pine Ridge Cemetery and the common to the west, and the junction of Bennington, Norway Hill, and Forest roads to the east. It then extends a short way up Bennington Road. The common was laid out in 1785, and the village developed nearby over the next 100+ years. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
The Town Center Historic District encompasses the historic village center of South Hampton, New Hampshire. Centered around the Barnard Green, the town common, on New Hampshire Route 107A, it includes architectural reminders of the town's growth and change over time. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Danby Village Historic District encompasses much of the town center of Danby, Vermont. It is centered on a stretch of Main Street, roughly between Depot Street and Brook Road. The village has a cohesive collection of mid-19th century architecture, mostly residential, with a modest number of later additions. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Gill Center Historic District encompasses the historic 19th-century village center of Gill, Massachusetts. The district is focused on Main Road near its junction with River Road, in the central northern part of the town, and has served as the community's center since its incorporation in 1793. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999; it features a variety of mainly Greek Revival and later Victorian architecture, as well as some 20th-century Colonial Revival buildings.
The Dudley Hill Historic District encompasses the historic heart of Dudley, Massachusetts. The historic district is essentially linear, extending along Center Street between Dudley Hill and Tanyard Roads. This area was the first to be settled in the mid-17th century, and is composed mainly of civic, religious, and residential buildings dating to the 18th and 19th centuries. The district listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.
The Oakham Center Historic District encompasses a portion of the historic town center of Oakham, Massachusetts. Roughly bounded by Coldbrook Rd., Maple St., Barre Rd., and Deacon Allen Drive, the area was formed as a civic center about 1770, with town incorporation following in 1775. It includes a well-preserved variety of early 19th-century residential architecture, as well as the town's Greek Revival Congregational church, and its 1908 library. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.