{"nrhp_refnum":"07001360","name":"Ross Farm","other_names":["Hill--Ross Farmstead"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"123 Meadow St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Northampton","county":"Hampshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.33397012700004,"lon":-72.67977177399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-01-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History","Black","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Ross Farm (Hill-Ross Farmstead) is a 2.25-acre farm property on Meadow Street in the Florence section of Northampton, Massachusetts. It includes a Federal-style farmhouse built about 1825 by Theodore Burt, plus 19th-century agricultural buildings.","why_significant":"The farm is tied to the Underground Railroad in Massachusetts through Samuel L. Hill, a founder of the Northampton Association for Education and Industry who lived here from 1841 to 1845, and Austin Ross, who later owned and farmed it. The house is the only surviving landmark of both the communitarian era and the Underground Railroad period on the site. It is nominated under the Underground Railroad in Massachusetts multiple property listing.","narrative":"Ross Farm occupies 2.25 acres on the north side of Meadow Street in Florence, a section of Northampton, Massachusetts, with the Mill River forming its eastern edge. The core is a two-story, center-chimney, side-passage farmhouse built about 1825 by Theodore Burt, with a hewn oak frame and late Federal interior woodwork. Later owners added a rear extension and other alterations, and a mid-1900s restoration changed the siding, porch and windows. A hay barn with cow shed and a tobacco barn, both from about 1880, also stand on the property. The farm became the core of a nearly 300-acre tract assembled in 1841 by the Northampton Association for Education and Industry, a communal society that ran a silk-making enterprise. Samuel L. Hill, a founder of the association, lived in the house and later aided fugitives from slavery. Austin Ross then operated the farm as a dairy and tobacco farm. The house is the only surviving landmark of the communal era and the Underground Railroad period here.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Theodore Burt (farmhouse, ca. 1825)","architectural_style":"Early Republic: Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Has had a residential function since the house and farm buildings were separated from the farmland in 1972; current functions listed as multiple dwelling, storage and animal facility.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.822652-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/67/7903/63790367/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/07001360.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001360/04f035791b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07001360/04f035791b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NorthamptonMA_RossFarm.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:NorthamptonMA_RossFarm.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790367","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Farm_(Northampton,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7369319"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampshire-county/ross-farm-07001360/"}