{"nrhp_refnum":"00001395","name":"Ted's Diner","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"67 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milford","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.14292771100003,"lon":-71.51750346299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A prefabricated barrel-roof diner at 67 Main Street in Milford, Massachusetts, manufactured in the 1920s by Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and later attached to a late 19th-century house behind it.","why_significant":"It is one of the earliest surviving diners in Massachusetts and the oldest of about fourteen O'Mahony diners still in the state. It has long been part of Milford's downtown business district. Its expansion into the adjoining house reflects the 1950s-60s shift toward family-style restaurants.","narrative":"Ted's Diner, at 67 Main Street in Milford, is a prefabricated barrel-roof diner built in the 1920s by Jerry O'Mahony, Inc. of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Its red porcelain enamel panels, nine-bay front and unusually wide form set it apart, and it is the only diner in Milford. It is the oldest of about fourteen O'Mahony diners remaining in Massachusetts. Over the decades the diner was joined to the late 19th-century house behind it, creating a larger seating area and a full kitchen. That change mirrored a broader move in the diner industry, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, toward family-oriented, restaurant-style dining that could compete with fast food chains. The diner has served Milford's downtown near Town Hall since at least 1931, and artist John Baeder painted it in 1974. It was recognized for its architecture and its place in local commerce. The Town of Milford has owned it since about 1995.","period_of_significance":"1920s-ca. 1970","architect_builder":"Jerry O'Mahony, Inc., Elizabeth, NJ","architectural_style":"Other: New England Barrel Roof Diner","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Milford since about 1995, which acquired the property intending to replace the buildings with a new Fire Department headquarters; the diner was still operating as a restaurant when the form was prepared.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.589658-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7931/63793176/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/00001395.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001395/f563a6d1ba-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001395/f563a6d1ba-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Noncentz","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TEDSDINER.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Noncentz</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TEDSDINER.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793176","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted%27s_Diner","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7692929"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/teds-diner-00001395/"}