{"nrhp_refnum":"76000230","name":"Clarke, Pitt, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"42 Mansfield Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Norton","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.96956211650004,"lon":-71.19450370803011,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-07-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story clapboarded Georgian house at 42 Mansfield Avenue in Norton, Massachusetts, built in 1797 as a parsonage on about thirty acres of fields and woods.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is architecturally significant to the community as an example of the early custom of a town providing land and housing for its minister. It was built by parishioners for the Reverend Pitt Clarke, Norton's third minister, who also taught, served as first town librarian and farmed. Its simple Colonial lines and intact rural setting are described as a visual reminder of Norton's past.","narrative":"Built in 1797 at 42 Mansfield Avenue in Norton, this two-and-one-half story clapboarded Georgian house was constructed as a parsonage for the Reverend Pitt Clarke, the town's third minister. Parishioners cleared the land, cut the lumber, built the house, dug the well and raised the stone walls that still surround the house and fields. The house has a five-bay facade, a center entrance with pilasters and a fanlight under a broken pediment, and four rooms on each of the first two floors around a central stairhall, each with its own fireplace. Clarke, a Harvard graduate, tutored students, prepared younger pupils for college, served as Norton's first librarian and ran a productive farm. The Freeman family owned the property for ninety-four years from 1856 and changed little. The house is valued as an example of the custom of a community supplying a minister's land and housing, and for its intact rural setting.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799 (specific date 1797)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian (with Federal elements noted on the data sheet)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, occupied as a private residence, and altered little; only minor restoration was done after 1950.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.083849-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/50/7945/63794550/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000230.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000230/b352277f62-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000230/b352277f62-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NortonMA_PittClarkeHouse.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:NortonMA_PittClarkeHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794550","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitt_Clarke_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7199067"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/clarke-pitt-house-76000230/"}