Shirley Village Historic District

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Shirley Village Historic District

1899 Shirley public library Massachusetts.png

The Hazen Public Library, c. 1899
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Location Shirley, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°32′33″N71°39′7″W / 42.54250°N 71.65194°W / 42.54250; -71.65194 Coordinates: 42°32′33″N71°39′7″W / 42.54250°N 71.65194°W / 42.54250; -71.65194
Architectural style Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Federal
NRHP reference #

91001958

[1]
Added to NRHP January 23, 1992

The Shirley Village Historic District encompasses the main commercial and industrial village of Shirley, Massachusetts. It is located in the southern part of the town, and grew up around a series of mills that were located along Catacoonamug Brook, and then the railroad, which was built through the area in the 1840s. The district contains 441 properties. [2] It is roughly bounded by Center, Harvard, Leominster and Shaker Roads. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. [1]

Shirley, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Shirley is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately fifty miles west-northwest of Boston. The population was 7,211 at the 2010 census. The town has a well-preserved historic New England town center.

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 town of Shirley was settled in the 1720s and incorporated in 1775. Its colonial town center (recognized in the Shirley Center Historic District) was nearer its geographic center than Shirley Village. The village grew in the 19th century as an industrial site, overtaking the original center economically, and eventually also becoming the site of its main municipal buildings. Catacoonamug Brook, the source of its early power, was the site of a gristmill and sawmill as early as 1740. Lancaster Road, which passes through the village, was also the only major stagecoach route in the town, and the village was also where the Boston and Fitchburg Railroad was routed through in 1845. The village's dominant economic force thereafter were the cotton mills, of which the large building of the Phoenix Mills still stands. Residential growth on the south side of the railroad in the second half of the 19th century resulted in a large number of mainly vernacular wood frame residences. [3]

Shirley Center Historic District

The Shirley Center Historic District encompasses the original historic center of Shirley, Massachusetts. The district is centered on the 1753 town common area, from which five roads radiate away. The district includes the buildings that surround the common, as well as some that line these roads. The district includes Shirley's town hall and First Parish Congregational Church.

The focal point of the district is near its western end, where Leominster, Lancaster, and Harvard Roads meet with Main Street and Center Road in a series of intersections. The district radiates out for short distances along most of these roads, and more significantly to the east, along Front and Fredonia Streets and Ayer Road. There is one cemetery, the Village Cemetery on Harvard Road, established in 1849. Notable brick buildings in the district include several schoolhouses, the war memorial hall, and the library, a handsome Richardsonian Romanesque building trimmed in brownstone. [3]

See also

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

This is a listing of places in Middlesex County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With more than 1,300 listings, the county has more listings than any other county in the United States.

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References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service.
  2. "2004 Master Plan" (PDF). Town of Shirley. Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  3. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Shirley Village Historic District". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved 2015-08-07.