{"nrhp_refnum":"77000175","name":"Cuming, Dr. John, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W of Concord at Barretts Mill Rd. and Reformatory Circle","address_restricted":false,"city":"Concord","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.467292961000055,"lon":-71.39619178899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-11-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Health/Medicine","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half-story wood-frame farmhouse built about 1754 on a roughly one and one-quarter acre lot at Reformatory Circle, west of Concord, Massachusetts, near Route 2.","why_significant":"It was the home of Dr. John Cuming, a prominent eighteenth-century Concord physician, philanthropist, political figure and military officer. He treated British and American wounded on April 19, 1775, and helped found the town of Cummington. His 1788 bequest to Harvard helped establish Harvard Medical School.","narrative":"Built about 1754 on a one and one-quarter acre lot near Route 2 west of Concord, this simple farmhouse is a two-and-one-half-story wood-frame dwelling with white clapboard siding, a hipped roof and a symmetrical five-bay facade. A pedimented portico with square posts shelters the front door, which has full-length sidelights. A nineteenth-century two-story ell extends from the rear, and two small outbuildings of the same century stand behind. Tall evergreens shield the house from traffic. The property is significant as the home of Dr. John Cuming, born in Concord in 1728 and educated in part at Edinburgh. He served as a Lieutenant Colonel in the French and Indian War, treated both British and American soldiers wounded on April 19, 1775, and held town and state offices. He also helped establish Cummington, which bears his name. His 1788 bequest to Harvard was used to help found Harvard Medical School. He lived in the house from 1754 until his death.","period_of_significance":"c. 1754","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial elements (simple eighteenth-century farmhouse)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Owned by the Massachusetts Department of Corrections, across Route 2 from the Concord Reformatory complex; marked occupied and used as a private residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.395984-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7961/63796148/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/77000175.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000175/e51afd5d30-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000175/e51afd5d30-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr._John_Cuming_House,_Concord_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dr._John_Cuming_House,_Concord_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796148","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._John_Cuming_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5304193"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/cuming-dr-john-house-77000175/"}