{"nrhp_refnum":"75000293","name":"Harnden Tavern","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"430 Salem St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilmington","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.57948191300005,"lon":-71.14740393899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-04-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Health/Medicine","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story clapboard Georgian tavern and house at 430 Salem Street, Wilmington, Massachusetts, built c. 1770 by local contractor Ebenezer Jones, with a later ell and a large barn.","why_significant":"It is described as the only example of late Georgian architecture in Wilmington. It was also the home of a family of important physicians, and was run as a tavern by Revolutionary War hero Capt. Joshua Harnden. It is believed to have been an Underground Railroad stop under Dr. Silas Brown, though no documents confirm this.","narrative":"Built around 1770 on Salem Street in Wilmington, Massachusetts, this two-story clapboard house with a hip roof, central chimney and a pedimented Doric doorway is the town's only example of late Georgian architecture. Ebenezer Jones, a local contractor, probably built it for speculation. Before 1795 it passed to Capt. Joshua Harnden, a Revolutionary War hero, and for thirty years it served as a popular tavern on the road from Salem to Lowell. In 1818 it was sold to Dr. Silas Brown, whose family produced several local physicians. The Browns were abolitionists, and a secret chamber near the chimney may have sheltered runaway slaves, although only indirect family letters suggest this. In 1973 the town used the state's Historic Eminent Domain Act to save the building from demolition. It now serves as a house museum and retains its original clapboards, entrance door, window panes, sash and largely unchanged interior.","period_of_significance":"c.1770","architect_builder":"Ebenezer Jones","architectural_style":"Late Georgian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Wilmington, which took it by eminent domain in 1973 to prevent demolition; now used as a house museum and caretaker's quarters, in excellent and largely unaltered condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.391147-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7959/63795991/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75000293.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000293/eff90b8232-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75000293/eff90b8232-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilmingtonMA_HarndenTavern.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WilmingtonMA_HarndenTavern.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795991","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harnden_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715506"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/harnden-tavern-75000293/"}