{"nrhp_refnum":"03000992","name":"Fitchburg Historical Society","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"50 Grove St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fitchburg","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.58468116200004,"lon":-71.80233164999999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Georgian Revival brick and terra cotta building at 50 Grove Street in downtown Fitchburg, Massachusetts, built in 1912 to house the Fitchburg Historical Society, together with an adjoining small park with historic objects.","why_significant":"The building is cited as one of the finest Georgian Revival buildings in Fitchburg and the work of Henry M. Francis & Sons, the city's best-known architecture firm. It is a rare local example of a building constructed specifically as a historical society headquarters, with fireproof vaults, a library and archive room, an exhibit room and a meeting hall. It also has a continuous association with the Society and its large collection of Fitchburg history.","narrative":"Completed in 1912 at 50 Grove Street in downtown Fitchburg, this Georgian Revival building was designed to hold a historical society's collections. Frederick and Albert Francis of Henry M. Francis & Sons designed it, and local contractor John Dudley Littlehale built it. Brick walls with terra cotta trim, a slate hip roof and a Tuscan portico with a fanlight mark the front. Inside are fireproof vaults, a reading and archives room, exhibit space and a large second-floor meeting room. Few buildings of this kind were built for the purpose, since most local historical societies occupy adapted houses, schools or town halls. The property also includes a small park with a Civil War-era cannon, a sundial and a relocated 1860s watering trough. It was listed for its architecture and for its long association with the Society, whose collection documents the industrial city on the Nashua River. The period of significance runs from 1912 to 1953.","period_of_significance":"1912 to 1953","architect_builder":"Henry M. Francis & Sons (designed by Frederick and Albert Francis); builder John Dudley Littlehale","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as the Historical Society's headquarters, with museum, library and archive functions; relatively few alterations in ninety-one years.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.824192-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/7974/63797482/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03000992.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000992/fe177b9980-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000992/fe177b9980-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FitchburgMA_HistoricalSociety.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</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:FitchburgMA_HistoricalSociety.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797482","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fitchburg_Historical_Society","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5455426"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/fitchburg-historical-society-03000992/"}