{"nrhp_refnum":"03001176","name":"Gowing-Sheldon Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"642 and 643 Woburn St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilmington","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.541883633000054,"lon":-71.14988862299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small rural historic district of about 1.22 acres at 642 and 643 Woburn Street in Wilmington, Massachusetts, made up of two farmhouses and their barns: a Federal style house built about 1809 and a Queen Anne style house built in 1893.","why_significant":"The district is significant for architecture and community development. Both houses are well-preserved local examples of their types, and they were built by related Sheldon family members near relatives along an old road. The Queen Anne house's Shingle Style carriage barn is unusual for Wilmington. The form also notes archaeological potential for Native American and historic farm remains.","narrative":"Two farmhouses and their barns face each other across Woburn Street, one of Wilmington's earliest roads, on about 1.22 acres that were once rural. The house at 642 Woburn Street dates to about 1809 and is a Federal style dwelling with a granite block foundation. It is unusually four bays wide and only one room deep, and it keeps its connection to a bank barn. Across the road, the Queen Anne house at 643 was built about 1893 for Lucy and Henry Sheldon Jr. Its carriage barn shows Shingle Style details, such as a curved ventilator and conical hoods, that are rare in Wilmington. The houses were home to related families who settled close to one another along the old road, a pattern also seen in the nearby Buck's Corner district. The district was listed for its architecture and its role in local community development. The form also notes a possibility of surviving Native American and farm-related archaeological remains, including an early shoe shop site.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1809 - 1953","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Early Republic/Federal; Late Victorian/Queen Anne (with Shingle Style carriage barn)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Both buildings are in use as single dwellings. They are well preserved, though suburban development has grown up around the district.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.681285-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/7957/63795764/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03001176.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001176/fcfccf8344-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001176/fcfccf8344-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilmingtonMA_642WoburnStreet.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:WilmingtonMA_642WoburnStreet.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795764","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gowing%E2%80%93Sheldon_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5590084"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/gowing-sheldon-historic-district-03001176/"}