{"nrhp_refnum":"73000307","name":"Wayside Inn Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Old Boston Post Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sudbury","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.35760350000004,"lon":-71.46899345198563,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Literature","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 76 acres in southwest Sudbury, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, on both sides of the Old Boston Post Road. It centers on the Wayside Inn (begun c. 1700) and includes the Martha-Mary Chapel, Grist Mill, Redstone School and three earlier dwellings to the east.","why_significant":"The Wayside Inn is believed to be the oldest operating inn in the country and is the setting of Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn. The Howe family ran it for generations, and Henry Ford bought it in 1923 and built a complex of related buildings around it. The district also includes three architecturally significant buildings added for protection.","narrative":"Wayside Inn Historic District occupies about 76 acres in southwest Sudbury, Massachusetts, along the Old Boston Post Road. Its core is the Wayside Inn, a gambrel-roofed building begun around 1700 by the carpenter Samuel Howe and enlarged by later generations of the Howe family. It is believed to be the oldest operating inn in the country and is the setting of Longfellow's Tales of a Wayside Inn, published in 1863. Henry Ford bought the inn in 1923 and surrounded it with related buildings: the Redstone School of 1798, moved from Sterling, a reconstructed 18th century grist mill built in the 1920s, and the Martha-Mary Chapel of 1939. Fire damaged the inn in 1955, and it was restored with a Ford Foundation grant and reopened in 1958. Three architecturally notable houses to the east, including a Greek Revival dwelling known as the Adam Howe House, were added to protect them.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries; specific dates c. 1700; 1863","architect_builder":"Samuel Howe, carpenter (began the inn c. 1700); Henry Ford (chapel, 1939, and refurbishment of the inn)","architectural_style":"Georgian-era inn with gambrel roof; Greek Revival dwelling; New England meetinghouse style chapel","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in excellent condition and occupied. The inn was damaged by fire in 1955 and restored, reopening in 1958. It is used commercially, as a museum and for private residences.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.784869-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/7959/63795989/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/73000307.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000307/65845467a4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000307/65845467a4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"Dudesleeper at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wayside_Inn1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Dudesleeper at English Wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wayside_Inn1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795989","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayside_Inn_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7976878"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/wayside-inn-historic-district-73000307/"}