{"nrhp_refnum":"73000853","name":"Claflin-Richards House","other_names":["See Also:Wenham Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"132 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wenham","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.60397669300005,"lon":-70.88728316499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-04-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Literature","Education","Politics/Government","Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2 story, four-room, center-chimney dwelling at 132 Main Street in the center of Wenham, Essex County, Massachusetts, built in 1661 and enlarged in 1673 by the town for its minister. It is now part of a museum, library and meeting hall complex.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as the oldest house on Main Street and perhaps the oldest in Wenham, continuously occupied since at least 1661. It was home to ministers, schoolmasters, doctors and civic and military leaders, and may have been the town's first school building. It is also described as a fine, largely restored 17th century dwelling with rare ogee corner braces.","narrative":"Located at 132 Main Street in the center of Wenham, this house dates to 1661, when Robert MacClaflin was granted the land. In 1673 the town added rooms to make a four-room house for its new minister, Reverend Joseph Gerrish. A 1925 salt-box addition was built on the rear. Inside, the 1661 room has been restored with exposed framing, an opened fireplace and ogee corner braces, a type found in only three Wenham houses and nowhere else in New England. Later owners included a schoolmaster, a postmaster, a physician and the Richards family, whose daughter Elizabeth Richards Horton helped found the Women's Educational and Industrial Union in Boston. The Richards family held the house until 1921, and it became the property of the Wenham Historical Association and Museum in 1952. It now forms part of a museum, library and meeting hall complex that includes two c. 1850 shoe shops, and it is described as continuously occupied since at least 1661.","period_of_significance":"17th and 18th centuries (specific dates 1661, 1673, 1840, 1921)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"17th century dwelling house (center chimney, with 1925 salt-box addition)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition, occupied, and in use as a museum; owned by the Wenham Historical Association and Museum Inc. since 1952, with about 8,000 visitors a year.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.069011-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7947/63794748/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/73000853.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000853/8aa9316463-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73000853/8aa9316463-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claflin-Richards_House_-_Wenham,_MA_-_rear_side_view.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot.</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Claflin-Richards_House_-_Wenham,_MA_-_rear_side_view.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"73000852","name":"Wenham Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/wenham-historic-district-73000852/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794748","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claflin%E2%80%93Richards_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5125030"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/claflin-richards-house-73000853/"}