New Salem Common Historic District

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New Salem Common Historic District
New Salem Academy, New Salem MA.jpg
New Salem Academy
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Location S. Main St., New Salem, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°29′55″N72°19′54″W / 42.49861°N 72.33167°W / 42.49861; -72.33167 Coordinates: 42°29′55″N72°19′54″W / 42.49861°N 72.33167°W / 42.49861; -72.33167
Area 35 acres (14 ha)
Built 1734 (1734)
NRHP reference # 78000443 [1]
Added to NRHP April 12, 1978

The New Salem Common Historic District encompasses the historic town center of New Salem, Massachusetts. Located on South Main Street, it includes the town common and most of its civic and institutional buildings. Most buildings in the district date to the 18th and 19th centuries. [2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. [1]

New Salem, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

New Salem is a town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 990 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area.

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

Contents

Description and history

The land that now makes up New Salem was granted in 1734 to citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, and was settled in 1737. It flourished as a rural community based on lumber and agriculture, with the town center benefiting economically as a stagecoach stop on the route between Worcester and Brattleboro, Vermont. The town center was originally laid out in 1737, including a large common, of which the present two-acre common is a surviving remnant. Other early elements of the center include the town pound, a stone enclosure built to house stray livestock, and the cemetery. The town center was bypassed by the railroads in the 19th century, and the town subsequently stagnated economically and declined in population. [3]

Salem, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Salem is a historic coastal city in Essex County, Massachusetts, located in the North Shore region. It is a New England bedrock of history and is considered one of the most significant seaports in Puritan American history.

Worcester, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Worcester is a city in, and the county seat of, Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population was 181,045, making it the second most populous city in New England after Boston. Worcester is located approximately 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston, 50 miles (80 km) east of Springfield and 40 miles (64 km) north of Providence. Due to its location in Central Massachusetts, Worcester is known as the "Heart of the Commonwealth", thus, a heart is the official symbol of the city. However, the heart symbol may also have its provenance in lore that the Valentine's Day card, although not invented in the city, was mass-produced and popularized by Esther Howland who resided in Worcester.

Brattleboro, Vermont Town in Vermont, United States

Brattleboro, originally Brattleborough, is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States. The most populous municipality abutting Vermont's eastern border with New Hampshire, which is the Connecticut River, Brattleboro is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of the Massachusetts state line, at the confluence of Vermont's West River and the Connecticut. In 2014, Brattleboro's population was estimated by the U.S. Census Bureau to be 11,765.

The historic district extends along South Main Street, from East and West Main Street in the north to Lovers Lane in the south. It is about 35 acres (14 ha) in size, with 43 historic buildings. Prominent among these are the First Congregational Church (1794), its 1838 and 1909 town halls, and the buildings of New Salem Academy, some of which date to the early 19th century. The common, in addition to several war memorials, includes a memorial to early settler William Stacy, who served in the American Revolutionary War and was an early settler of the Ohio Country. [3]

William Stacy was an officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and a pioneer to the Ohio Country. Published histories describe Colonel William Stacy's involvement in a variety of events during the war, such as rallying the militia on a village common in Massachusetts, participating in the Siege of Boston, being captured by Loyalists and American Indians at the Cherry Valley massacre, narrowly escaping a death by burning at the stake, General George Washington's efforts to obtain Stacy's release from captivity, and Washington's gift of a gold snuff box to Stacy at the end of the war.

American Revolutionary War War between Great Britain and the Thirteen Colonies, which won independence as the United States of America

The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was an 18th-century war between Great Britain and its Thirteen Colonies which declared independence as the United States of America.

Ohio Country Historical region in North America

The Ohio Country was a name used in the mid to late 18th century for a region of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and north of the upper Ohio and Allegheny Rivers extending to Lake Erie. The area encompassed roughly all of present-day Ohio, northwestern West Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, and a wedge of southeastern Indiana.


See also

National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Massachusetts Wikimedia list article

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Franklin County, Massachusetts.

Whitaker-Clary House Historic building New Salem, Massachusetts

The Whitaker-Clary House is a historic house at 40 Elm Street in New Salem, Massachusetts, United States. It currently houses the museum of the Swift River Historical Society. Built about 1816, it is a fine local example of Federal period architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

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