{"nrhp_refnum":"75001942","name":"Rumford, Count, Birthplace","other_names":["Rumford House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"90 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Woburn","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50801871050007,"lon":-71.16120837251671,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-15","is_nhl":true,"nhl_designated_date":"1975-05-15","areas_of_significance":["Science"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story clapboard frame house at 90 Elm Street in Woburn, Massachusetts, built in 1714 by Ebenezer Thompson and now operated as a house-museum to Benjamin Thompson (Count Rumford), who was born there.","why_significant":"Benjamin Thompson, later Count Rumford, was born here in 1753. He was the first native-born American to make internationally significant contributions to science, notably showing that heat is a form of motion rather than a fluid called caloric. He also founded the Royal Institution and promoted applying science to everyday life.","narrative":"Built in 1714 by Ebenezer Thompson, this three-story clapboard house at 90 Elm Street in Woburn, Massachusetts, has a gambrel roof at the front and a saltbox profile at the rear. Its flooring, hardware, paneling and fireplaces are believed to be original, and the interior and exterior are said to be little changed since the time of its famous native son. Benjamin Thompson was born here in 1753, in the home of his grandfather. A loyalist who left America with the British in 1775, he went on to a career in Europe, became Count Rumford of the Holy Roman Empire, reformed Bavarian welfare and the army, and founded the Royal Institution in London. His experiments helped disprove the caloric theory of heat. He was the first native-born American to make internationally significant scientific contributions. The house now serves as a museum dedicated to his memory and was recognized as a national historic landmark.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799, 1800-1899 (both checked on the form)","architect_builder":"Ebenezer Thompson (builder, per the form's description)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as excellently preserved, little changed from Rumford's day, and functioning as a house-museum; condition marked excellent and unaltered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.212928-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/7937/63793785/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/75001942_NHL.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001942/8de134efea-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001942/8de134efea-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Benjamin_Thompson_Birthplace,_Woburn,_Massachusetts.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</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:Benjamin_Thompson_Birthplace,_Woburn,_Massachusetts.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793785","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Thompson_House%E2%80%93Count_Rumford_Birthplace","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4889300"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/rumford-count-birthplace-75001942/"}