{"nrhp_refnum":"03001261","name":"Commonwealth Avenue Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Commonwealth Ave., N side from Stanley St. to beyond Robinson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Attleborough","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.969944000000055,"lon":-71.30882185109579,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Industry","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A linear historic district of about 12.5 acres on the north side of Commonwealth Avenue in North Attleborough, Bristol County, Massachusetts. It holds 13 contributing resources, mainly 19th- and early 20th-century houses and two jewelry factories.","why_significant":"The district is significant under Criteria A and C at the local level. Its factories and large houses show the jewelry-manufacturing industry at The Falls and the living and working patterns of owners and workers. The houses are well-preserved examples of mainstream 19th- and early 20th-century domestic architecture, with some influence from nearby Providence.","narrative":"Commonwealth Avenue in North Attleborough carries a three-eighths-mile stretch of large houses and two jewelry factories near the Ten Mile River. The district grew out of the industrial activity at The Falls, where manufacturers and workers built homes close to the mills. V.H. Blackinton began making jewelry at 140 Commonwealth Avenue in 1857, and the Freeman factory on Robinson Street produced jewelry for more than a century. The houses range from early 19th-century Federal and Greek Revival examples, including the Robinson House at 161 and a center-chimney house at 172 dating to about 1800, to a Modern Gothic house of 1881-82, Queen Anne houses of the 1880s and 1890s, and a Dutch Colonial house of about 1924. Two of them echo designs from Providence, Rhode Island, reflecting business and cultural ties. Together the buildings show how industrial success shaped local housing and how factories and residences sat side by side.","period_of_significance":"Ca. 1800-1953","architect_builder":"E.R. Wheeler (Providence, RI); Frank E. Field","architectural_style":"Federal, Greek Revival, Queen Anne (also Modern Gothic and Dutch Colonial houses described)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Portions of the Freeman-Sturdy Factory at 35 Robinson Street are vacant; the Blackinton factory at 140 Commonwealth Avenue has multiple commercial and industrial uses; one house is now a mortuary.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.487943-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/80/7944/63794480/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/03001261.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001261/29019fcd35-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001261/29019fcd35-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:188_Commonwealth_Avenue,_Attleborough_Falls_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:188_Commonwealth_Avenue,_Attleborough_Falls_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794480","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Avenue_Historic_District_(North_Attleborough,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5153693"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/commonwealth-avenue-historic-district-03001261/"}