{"nrhp_refnum":"73001953","name":"Sumner, Charles, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"20 Hancock St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.36043057950005,"lon":-71.06424722290792,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-11-07","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1973-11-07","areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Federal style four-story townhouse at 20 Hancock Street in Boston, Massachusetts, where Senator Charles Sumner lived for over thirty years. The form does not give a construction date or builder.","why_significant":"The house was the residence of Charles Sumner, a leading political opponent of slavery and a US senator from 1851. He helped found the Republican Party, urged emancipation early in the Civil War, chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and led radical Reconstruction efforts. The form also notes his intemperate speech drew historical criticism.","narrative":"Charles Sumner lived for more than thirty years in this Federal style four-story townhouse at 20 Hancock Street in Boston. The central original block follows a standard side hall plan, with a front parlor, a rear sitting room and a kitchen beyond, and the upper floors repeat a similar arrangement. Although the building is not in the best repair, its floor plan, mantelpieces and woodwork remain intact. Sumner, born in Boston in 1811, became a US senator in 1851 and was among the most outspoken political opponents of slavery. He helped organize the Republican Party, wrote the oration \"The Barbarism of Slavery,\" and was among the first prominent statesmen to urge emancipation during the Civil War. As chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee he helped keep the country at peace with Britain and France, and he later joined the radical Republican push for Reconstruction and civil rights for freedmen. The house is recognized for its association with him.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as not in the best of repair owing to the owner's limited finances, but the floor plan, mantelpieces and woodwork are intact. It is a private residence and not open to the public.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.419614-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7938/63793823/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/73001953_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001953/eb3535594b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001953/eb3535594b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Swampyank at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Charles_Sumner_House_Boston_Massachusetts.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Swampyank at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Charles_Sumner_House_Boston_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000130","name":"Beacon Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/beacon-hill-historic-district-66000130/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793823","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sumner_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5082765"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/sumner-charles-house-73001953/"}