{"nrhp_refnum":"77000179","name":"Bradford Common Historic District","other_names":["Bradford Common Area"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Haverhill","county":"Essex County","state":"MA","lat":42.76709400000007,"lon":-71.07695209475801,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-09-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Education","Exploration/Settlement","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 38-acre historic district centered on the triangular Bradford Common, on high land above the south bank of the Merrimack River in the former town of Bradford, now part of Haverhill, Massachusetts. It holds residential, religious and educational buildings ranging from mid-Georgian to California Mission style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is a physical record of Bradford's growth and has a wide span of high-quality architecture. People and events important to Bradford history are tied to its buildings, including the founding of Bradford Academy, early missionary work and the shoe industry.","narrative":"Bradford Common is a 38-acre district in Haverhill, Massachusetts, built around a triangular green once at the center of the separate town of Bradford, which merged with Haverhill in 1897. The area is mostly residential, with three churches, two public schools, a library branch and a small college campus. Buildings range from the Kimball Tavern, built about 1690 and described as the oldest in Bradford, to a California Mission Style house of 1917. Notable examples include the 1848 White Church, the 1868 Academy Hall and several homes of Haverhill shoe manufacturers. The town center moved here around 1749 when the Kimball family gave land for a meeting house. The district is tied to Bradford Academy, founded in 1803 and now Bradford College, and to a 1810 gathering of ministers that established a foreign missions board. Early farmhouses gave way to wealthier homes after shoe and leather industries grew nearby. The nomination values it as a record of community growth and varied architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Richard Bond (White Church); Jedediah Perkins Carleton; W.P. Phillips; Emerson & Fehmer; James M. Bancroft and James A. Perkins; James Bartlett; Isaac Morse","architectural_style":"Mixed, from mid-Georgian to California Mission Style, including Renaissance Revival, Italianate, Italian villa, Carpenter Gothic, Romanesque, Shingle, Georgian Revival and Bungalow","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and predominantly residential; some former civic and commercial buildings now serve other purposes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.509605-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7947/63794744/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/77000179.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000179/da26451bac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77000179/da26451bac-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kimball_Tavern_Antiques,_Bradford_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://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:Kimball_Tavern_Antiques,_Bradford_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794744","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Common_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4954642"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/essex-county/bradford-common-historic-district-77000179/"}