{"nrhp_refnum":"76000228","name":"Angle Tree Stone","other_names":[],"category":"object","location":{"address":"W of North Attleborough off High St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"North Attleborough","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.985255229000074,"lon":-71.36437352699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-01-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A slate boundary marker, an object, erected in 1790 in a wooded clearing surrounded by farmland on the line between Plainville (Norfolk County) and North Attleborough (Bristol County), Massachusetts.","why_significant":"It marks the spot where a tree identified the only angle and change of direction in the 1664 boundary between the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies. The nomination also argues it has gained significance as a monument through its age. Its 1790 inscription records the commissioners who surveyed the line.","narrative":"Deep in a wooded clearing among farm fields, a slate shaft fourteen feet high, two feet wide and four inches thick marks a turning point in colonial Massachusetts. Erected in 1790 on the order of the General Court, it replaced a tree that surveyors marked in 1664 to show where the boundary between the Massachusetts Bay and Plymouth colonies changed direction, from southwest to due west toward Rhode Island. The line lies three miles south of the southern end of the Charles River and now divides Norfolk County from Plymouth and Bristol Counties. This is the only angle along the whole line. A carved circle tops the stone, with Massachusetts Colony inscribed on the north side and Plymouth Colony on the south. A long inscription names the 1664 commissioners and the officials present. Weathering, spalling and graffiti have damaged the slate, and an iron railing was added for protection. A small park with interpretive displays was proposed.","period_of_significance":"1790","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as deteriorating from weathering and vandalism, with spalling slate and graffiti; an iron railing surrounds it, and a small interpretive park was proposed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.270371-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/68/7945/63794568/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000228.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000228/62d1797e60-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000228/62d1797e60-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Arthur C. Haskel","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angle_Tree_Stone_1935.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Arthur C. Haskel</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Angle_Tree_Stone_1935.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794568","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_Tree_Stone","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4763353"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/angle-tree-stone-76000228/"}