Northside Village Historic District

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Northside Village Historic District

Waters-Morton House, September 2016, Charlton MA.jpg

Waters-Morton House
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Location Stafford Street, Northside and Cemetery Roads, Charlton, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°9′53″N71°57′24″W / 42.16472°N 71.95667°W / 42.16472; -71.95667 Coordinates: 42°9′53″N71°57′24″W / 42.16472°N 71.95667°W / 42.16472; -71.95667
Area 70 acres (28 ha)
Built 1735
Architect Unknown
Architectural style Greek Revival
NRHP reference # 77000195 [1]
Added to NRHP October 5, 1977

The Northside Village Historic District encompasses a rural village center on Stafford Road in northern Charlton, Massachusetts. Located at the junction of Stafford Road with Northside and Cemetery Roads is a small cluster of residential buildings, developed beginning in 1735 around a small tanning business, and later as a stagecoach stop. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. [1]

Charlton, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Charlton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 12,981 at the 2010 census.

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

Charlton was settled in 1735 as part of Oxford, and was separately incorporated in 1775. One of its first settlers was Jonothan Wheelock, whose house built that year still stands near the eastern end of the district. Wheelock established a tannery and distillery on a nearby brook, of which only archaeological remnants survive on their sites. In 1796 his house was purchased by John Haven, who is credited with building a number of the surviving buildings in the village. The Rider Tavern, built in 1797, became a stop on the stagecoach route between Worcester and Hartford, Connecticut, including among its visitors the Marquis de Lafayette. The tavern is now a museum operated by the local historical society. [2]

Rider Tavern

The Rider Tavern is an historic tavern in the Northside Village Historic District of Charlton, Massachusetts. The tavern, now a large three story wood frame building, was built c. 1797, and was for many years an important stop on the stagecoach road. It is owned by the Charlton Historical Society, and open for guided tours in the summer and special events.

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.

The historic district is centered on the two junctions of Stafford Road, the historic stage route, with Northside Road, extending south to the town center, and Cemetery Road, running north. There are thirteen buildings in the district, most of which were built before 1850. In addition to the Rider Tavern and Wheelock House, notable buildings include the Waters-Morton House, which was home both to a prominent local politician, and was the childhood home of Dr. William T. G. Morton, a dentist who introduced the use of ether as an anesthetic. The only non-residential building in the district is the former 1848 Northside District School. [2]

William T. G. Morton United States dental surgeon

William Thomas Green Morton was an American dentist who first publicly demonstrated the use of inhaled ether as a surgical anaesthetic in 1846. The promotion of his questionable claim to have been the discoverer of anaesthesia became an obsession for the rest of his life.

Diethyl ether chemical compound

Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula (C
2
H
5
)
2
O
, sometimes abbreviated as Et
2
O
. It is a colorless, highly volatile flammable liquid. It is commonly used as a solvent in laboratories and as a starting fluid for some engines. It was formerly used as a general anesthetic, until non-flammable drugs were developed, such as halothane. It has been used as a recreational drug to cause intoxication.

See also

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

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) designated in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The locations of NRHP properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in a map.

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Morton Street road in Boston

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References