{"nrhp_refnum":"78000432","name":"Locke, Capt. Benjamin, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"21 Appleton St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Arlington","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.42358056200004,"lon":-71.17707588599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-07-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2½-story clapboard house at 21 Appleton Street in the Arlington Heights neighborhood of Arlington, Massachusetts. The original portion is believed to date from about 1720, with later additions.","why_significant":"The house is tied to the Locke family and to the growth of Arlington. Captain Benjamin Locke, a grandson of Francis Locke, served on the Prudential Committee, commanded men at Lexington and Bunker Hill, and helped found a Baptist Society in Menotomy. The Society bought the house in 1781 and used it as a meetinghouse before it returned to Locke family ownership.","narrative":"Located in Arlington Heights, this 2½-story clapboard house at 21 Appleton Street has a five-bay facade, a central hall plan one room deep, and a central chimney. Its earliest portion, a one-story single-bay structure, is believed to date from about 1720, when Francis Locke moved from Woburn to Menotomy, now Arlington. A rear ell was added about 1820, an enclosed entry porch in the mid-19th century, and a shed-roof porch about 1900. Captain Benjamin Locke, Francis's grandson, served on the Prudential Committee, commanded 50 men at Lexington and Bunker Hill, and in 1780 chaired a committee that founded a Baptist Society opposed to paying ministerial taxes to the Congregational Church. The Society bought the house in 1781 for 100 silver dollars and converted it into a meetinghouse. In 1790 it was sold back to Locke and refitted as a residence, then sold to his son. Locke descendants held the property until 1975.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Described as in good condition, occupied, and used as a private residence; fitted with aluminum storm sash.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:55.001688-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7961/63796170/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/78000432.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000432/6743a47b46-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78000432/6743a47b46-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Enzo69mc","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ArlingtonMA_CaptBenjaminLockeHouse_2012.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Enzo69mc</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:ArlingtonMA_CaptBenjaminLockeHouse_2012.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796170","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capt._Benjamin_Locke_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5036411"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/locke-capt-benjamin-house-78000432/"}