{"nrhp_refnum":"76001611","name":"Pierce, Peter, Store","other_names":["Middleborough Police Department"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N. Main and Jackson Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Middleboro","county":"Plymouth County","state":"MA","lat":41.89325585900008,"lon":-70.90739262899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c. 1825-30 Greek Revival store building at the corner of North Main and Jackson Streets in the center of Middleborough, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, built for merchant Peter Hoar Peirce. It is now town-owned and houses the police department and court rooms.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the store is an architectural focal point of Middleborough and one of the few original commercial buildings still standing there. It is also closely tied to Peter Peirce, a merchant, mill owner, legislator and railroad promoter who was a central figure in the town's nineteenth century life. Its scale, massing, setback and monumental Greek Doric portico still shape the look of Main Street.","narrative":"Standing at the corner of North Main and Jackson Streets in the center of Middleborough, this Greek Revival building was constructed around 1825-30 as a retail store for Peter Hoar Peirce. A two-story main block faces the street gable-end, fronted by a two-story tetrastyle portico with Greek Doric columns and a pediment holding a segmental fanlight. Peirce, who lived from 1788 to 1861, was a merchant, money lender, mill and shovel works owner, state legislator from 1826 to 1828, and an early promoter of the railroad. His family ran the store until 1901, and the Pratt brothers kept it going until 1935, when the town bought it. The wings were then rebuilt as mirror images and the building became offices for the police and the Fourth District Court. Its scale, massing and setback are unchanged, and it remains one of the few original commercial buildings in town and a focal point of Main Street.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Town of Middleborough, occupied, and used for the police department, town offices and the Fourth District Court; described as maintained in good condition by the town.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.618671-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/7965/63796528/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/76001611.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001611/ffd6bcb0a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001611/ffd6bcb0a5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MiddleboroughMA_PoliceStation.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:MiddleboroughMA_PoliceStation.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00000685","name":"Middleborough Center Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/middleborough-center-historic-district-00000685/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796528","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Pierce_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7176392"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/plymouth-county/pierce-peter-store-76001611/"}