{"nrhp_refnum":"74000363","name":"Russell, Jason House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 Jason St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.41600814100008,"lon":-71.15846213899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-10-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, gray-painted frame farmhouse at 7 Jason Street in Arlington, Massachusetts, built about 1740 by Jason Russell and enlarged over the following century. It is now the headquarters and museum of the Arlington Historical Society.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the opening fighting of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775, when Jason Russell and eleven Minutemen were killed there by a British flanking party. It is also a well-preserved example of the home of a well-to-do mid-18th century Massachusetts farmer, and one of only two Revolutionary-period houses left in Arlington.","narrative":"Built about 1740 by farmer Jason Russell, this two-story clapboard farmhouse on Jason Street in Arlington began as a two-room half house. About 1750 Russell doubled it to a full five-bay house with a central door, stair and chimney. Later additions include a small porch around 1814, a lean-to around 1850 and a large two-story ell around 1863. On April 19, 1775, the house stood beside the route of British troops returning from Lexington and Concord. Russell and eleven Minutemen died there when a British flanking party surprised them, and bullet holes remain in the woodwork. Minutemen also sheltered in the cellar. The Arlington Historical Society acquired the building in 1923 and restored it the next year. The kitchen retains a large fireplace and a whitewashed ceiling with sponge-painted spots, considered the earliest form of interior painting in New England. Furnished with period pieces, the house serves as a museum and teaching site open to visitors.","period_of_significance":"18th Century (specific dates 1740, 1775)","architect_builder":"Jason Russell (builder)","architectural_style":"18th century Massachusetts farmhouse","criteria":[],"status_note":"Excellent condition; used as Arlington Historical Society headquarters and museum, open to the public at stated times without admission charge, with a resident caretaker in the rear ell.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.48714-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/7959/63795999/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/74000363.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000363/e6441f914f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74000363/e6441f914f-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jason_Russell_House_-_Arlington,_Massachusetts.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:Jason_Russell_House_-_Arlington,_Massachusetts.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"85002691","name":"Arlington Center Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/arlington-center-historic-district-boundary-increase-85002691/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795999","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Russell_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6163398"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/russell-jason-house-74000363/"}