{"nrhp_refnum":"76000235","name":"Putnam, Gen. Israel, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"431 Maple St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Danvers","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.58272745600004,"lon":-70.96680027199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Architecture","Agriculture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame house at 431 Maple Street in Danvers, Essex County, Massachusetts, on about 3.75 acres. The oldest section dates from 1648, with additions in 1744 and 1831.","why_significant":"It is the birthplace and boyhood home of General Israel Putnam, a Continental Army major general, and the only surviving structure associated with his name. It has also stayed in the hands of the Putnam family for eleven successive generations, and its residents have lived partly from the land that came with it.","narrative":"Begun in 1648 and expanded over the following two centuries, this two-story frame house in Danvers, Massachusetts, sits on about 3.75 acres. The original rear section has a gable roof and end chimney. A gambrel-roofed front section with a center chimney was added in 1744, a kitchen wing followed in the early nineteenth century, and the roof of the oldest part was raised in 1831. Highways were deliberately routed so the house could stay on its original site. It was the birthplace and boyhood home of Israel Putnam, who became a Continental Army major general and a folk hero of the Revolutionary War, and it is the only surviving structure linked to his name. Eleven generations of the Putnam family have owned it, preserving furniture and memorabilia. The land supported farming until 1923 and a shoe factory from 1800. A surviving shoe shop building now houses a candy business whose income supports the homestead.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence. A candy shop operates in a former shoe shop building on about half of the premises, and the house is described as preserved as a living memorial.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.07637-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7946/63794620/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76000235.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000235/68c0f15fc0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76000235/68c0f15fc0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daderot.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Putnam_House,_Danvers,_Massachusetts_-_front_view.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Daderot.</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:Putnam_House,_Danvers,_Massachusetts_-_front_view.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794620","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Israel_Putnam_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5531964"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/putnam-gen-israel-house-76000235/"}