{"nrhp_refnum":"80000516","name":"Brooks, John, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 Nelson Pl.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.29673345900005,"lon":-71.81935460899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one and one-half storey frame farmhouse at 12 Nelson Place in Worcester, Massachusetts, built about 1847-1856 for John H. Brooks. It is built to look like a cottage and is still used as a residence.","why_significant":"The form describes it as a particularly fine example of the cottage type popular locally in the 1850s and 1860s. It is tied to John Brooks, a farmer, blacksmith, real estate developer and public figure. It is perhaps the only farm left in Worcester.","narrative":"Set on a 3.53-acre lot at 12 Nelson Place in Worcester, this clapboard farmhouse dates to about 1847-1856 and is designed to resemble a cottage. It rises one and one-half storeys, with a three-bay south facade, a steep gable with an oculus, a side-hall entry and a full porch with original brackets. Unusually for this house type, the east side has three bracketed gables. A rectangular ell extends from the west wall, and the only noted alteration is a small one-storey addition at the north end of the east side. John Brooks (1809-1894), born in Princeton, came to Worcester in 1837 and bought the farm called the Nelson Place by 1847. He farmed, worked as a blacksmith and took part in real estate development in the Chadwick Square and Greendale areas. He also served as a church deacon, on the Common Council and in the state legislature. His obituary dates the present house to 1856. The property remains with his descendants and may be the last farm in Worcester.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Bracketed Victorian","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is residence; the property remains in the possession of Brooks' descendants. Alterations are minor, including a one-storey frame addition on the east side.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.050264-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/11/7928/63792811/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000516.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000516/850c84eac5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000516/850c84eac5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pvmoutside","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:John_Brooks_House_Worcester_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pvmoutside</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:John_Brooks_House_Worcester_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792811","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brooks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6223383"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/brooks-john-house-80000516/"}