{"nrhp_refnum":"04000423","name":"Community Memorial Hospital","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"15 Winthrop Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ayer","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.56087342500007,"lon":-71.58176146799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-05-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Colonial Revival red brick community hospital at 15 Winthrop Avenue in Ayer, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in 1928-29 to designs by Haynes & Mason of Fitchburg, with a south wing added about 1957.","why_significant":"It was the first hospital building constructed specifically to serve Ayer and is an intact example of an early 20th century community hospital reflecting the spread of hospital-based care to rural America. It served Ayer and six neighboring towns, and was supported by local fundraising and volunteers. It is also a locally significant example of Colonial Revival institutional architecture.","narrative":"Community Memorial Hospital at 15 Winthrop Avenue in Ayer, Massachusetts, is a red brick Colonial Revival building on a hilltop lot. It opened in April 1929 to designs by the Fitchburg firm Haynes & Mason. The original two-story block, flanked by one-story wings ending in pedimented pavilions, is trimmed in brownstone and wood cornices. A matching south wing was added around 1957 to increase bed capacity. It was the first hospital building built specifically for Ayer, growing out of the Ayer Hospital Association and the Ayer Private Hospital, and was the lifelong goal of Dr. Bertrand H. Hopkins. A fundraising drive raised $72,500 in about a week, and the hospital served Ayer and six nearby towns. It later became a nursing home and long-term care facility. The building is significant for its role in local health care history and as an intact example of an early 20th century community hospital. It was vacant at the time of nomination, with conversion to assisted living planned for 2004.","period_of_significance":"1929-1957","architect_builder":"Haynes & Mason, architects","architectural_style":"Early 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant; the building is being rehabilitated in 2004 for assisted living residences, with a new addition proposed and the original west portico being reconstructed.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.856863-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/52/7961/63796152/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/04000423.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000423/b97a5660e4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000423/b97a5660e4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Community_Memorial_Hospital,_Ayer_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:Community_Memorial_Hospital,_Ayer_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796152","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_Memorial_Hospital_(Ayer,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5154817"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/community-memorial-hospital-04000423/"}