{"nrhp_refnum":"75000290","name":"Hutchinson's, Gov. Thomas, Ha-ha","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"100, 122 Randolph Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Milton","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.265304153000045,"lon":-71.06795320799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-02-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Landscape Architecture","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A stone-faced ditch known as a ha-ha, about 120 feet long, behind St. Michael's Church on Randolph Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts, thought to have been built around 1771 by Governor Thomas Hutchinson.","why_significant":"It is the last surviving feature, apart from foliage and land, of Governor Thomas Hutchinson's estate, and one of the few visible ha-has in New England and the United States. It illustrates the fashionable formal garden design of the late 18th century. It is also tied to Hutchinson, a colonial official, historian and horticulturist.","narrative":"Behind St. Michael's Church on Randolph Avenue in Milton, Massachusetts, a stone-lined ditch runs north to south for about 120 feet. This is a ha-ha, a sunken barrier meant to keep wandering cows out of a garden without blocking the view of the landscape beyond. Its slanted sides are built of puddingstone and granite rubble and topped with large cut granite blocks. It is thought to date from about 1771 and to have been built by Thomas Hutchinson, then Provincial Governor of Massachusetts, soon after Horace Walpole's published description of the feature. Hutchinson bought the Milton property in 1742 and was admired even by his rival John Adams for his garden and horticultural knowledge. The ha-ha is the last surviving feature of his estate apart from foliage and land, and one of very few visible examples in the United States. It now stands deteriorated, with fallen stones and debris, and a 20th-century house occupies the former garden. Restoration of the ha-ha has been planned.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Deteriorated: many stones have fallen and the ditch is clogged with debris. A 20th-century house sits in the former garden, which is considered unrestorable, though plans exist to restore the ha-ha.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.184076-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/46/7964/63796446/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000290.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000290/b4e7c2b5fa-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000290/b4e7c2b5fa-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Governor_Hutchinsons_Haha_Milton_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Governor_Hutchinsons_Haha_Milton_MA_01.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"95000698","name":"Milton Hill Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/milton-hill-historic-district-95000698/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796446","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gov._Thomas_Hutchinson%27s_Ha-ha","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715491"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/hutchinsons-gov-thomas-ha-ha-75000290/"}