{"nrhp_refnum":"75000245","name":"Harwich Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Irregular pattern on both sides of Main St., W to Forest St. and E to jct. of Rte. 39 and Chatham Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Harwich","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.68633250000008,"lon":-70.07298864441334,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-02-24","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly 55-acre historic district in the center of Harwich, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, with 55 buildings along Main, Parallel, Forest, Bank and Oak Streets, Sisson Road and Pleasant Lake Avenue. Most buildings date from the 19th century.","why_significant":"The district is significant for its fine Greek Revival and Italianate architecture and as the center of the town's historic development. It keeps its 19th-century architectural and spatial character despite a few modest modern buildings. Many of its buildings are tied to the Broadbrooks (later Brooks) family, the town's most important philanthropic family.","narrative":"Harwich's town center forms a 55-acre district of 55 buildings arranged along Main Street and its parallel and side streets. Narrow streets, trees and open spaces give it a semi-rural feel. Greek Revival and Italianate buildings predominate, with some Lombard Romanesque and Colonial Revival examples, and a few modest modern structures such as a pharmacy, telephone building and gas station. Notable buildings include the First Congregational Church, remodeled in 1854, the 1836 Dr. Franklin Dodge House, the 1844 Brooks Academy, the Brooks Block and the former Bank Building, which together form the Brooks Free Library, and several 1860s shops. The district was listed because it preserves the 19th-century look of the town's historic center and because so many buildings and parks came from the Broadbrooks, later Brooks, family. Family members founded a navigation school, and gave the library, a parsonage and Brooks Park to the town or church. The First Congregational Church also took a public abolitionist stand in 1846.","period_of_significance":"18th and 19th centuries (checked on form; no specific dates given)","architect_builder":"Calvin Gifford (designed the Old Broadbrooks House and his own house); Luther Gifford (Dr. Franklin Dodge House, Bank Building); J.D. Towle of Towle and Foster (1854 remodeling of First Congregational Church)","architectural_style":"Predominantly Greek Revival and Italianate, with some Lombard Romanesque and Colonial Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as good, mostly unaltered and on original sites. The district became a local historic district in 1973.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.116988-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7939/63793991/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000245.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000245/b4060c3b55-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000245/b4060c3b55-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Corner_of_Main_St_and_Pleasant_Lake_Ave,_Harwich_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793991","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harwich_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5677849"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/harwich-historic-district-75000245/"}