{"nrhp_refnum":"09000965","name":"Head of the River Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"2-28 Main St., Acushnet; 2-28 Mill Rd., 2-13 Tarkiln Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bedford","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.682874500000054,"lon":-70.91645081640286,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small linear historic district about a quarter mile long along a road crossing the Acushnet River, spanning Acushnet and New Bedford, Massachusetts, with 26 historic houses and stores plus a stone arch bridge, mostly dating from the late 18th to mid-19th century and the early 20th century.","why_significant":"The district is significant under Criterion C for architecture, with representative residential and commercial buildings spanning its period of significance, including Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate and early 20th-century styles. It also reflects the development of a small southern New England village, with a cross-section of early residents and rare surviving early commercial buildings.","narrative":"Head of the River is a compact village district straddling Acushnet and New Bedford, Massachusetts, where a winding road crosses the Acushnet River just north of New Bedford Harbor. About 26 houses and stores line both banks, along with an old double-arch stone bridge later widened with steel and concrete. Most buildings are one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half stories, in two main waves: the late 1700s to mid-1800s, and the early 1900s. Early residents included a judge, a sea captain, a Revolutionary War veteran, a factory owner and a blacksmith. Federal houses such as the Hawes House share the area with Greek Revival homes, an Italianate-remodeled house, bungalows and early automobile-era buildings like a 1920s garage. Two small stores, one later a post office, are rare surviving early commercial buildings. The district was listed for the architectural range of its residential and commercial buildings and for the way they show village growth and change over time.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal; Greek Revival; Queen Anne; Colonial Revival; Bungalow; Commercial style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Largely residential and commercial village area; current functions include dwellings, specialty stores and road-related use. Count is 37 contributing and 3 noncontributing buildings, plus one contributing structure.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.44884-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/7944/63794454/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/09000965.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000965/320457d778-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000965/320457d778-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NewBedfordMA_HeadOfTheRiver.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:NewBedfordMA_HeadOfTheRiver.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794454","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_of_the_River_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16841894"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/head-of-the-river-historic-district-09000965/"}