{"nrhp_refnum":"80000632","name":"Hammond Organ Factory","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9 May St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Worcester","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.255135651000046,"lon":-71.81543837799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-03-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former organ reed factory at 9 May Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built in 1868 for Andrew H. Hammond, with additions around 1875 and 1880. It is a two-story brick building with a high basement and a slate mansard roof.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as one of the few remaining Second Empire style factory buildings in Worcester. It is also tied to Andrew Hammond's organ reed business, which the form says was believed to be the largest organ reed factory in the world between the 1890s and World War I. The themes checked are architecture, commerce, and industry.","narrative":"Located at 9 May Street in Worcester, this brick factory was built in 1868 for Andrew H. Hammond to make organ reeds. It rises two stories above a high basement, with a third story under a slate mansard roof, and its facade curves slightly along the street. A high granite stoop leads to an off-center entrance, and an original cast-iron fence set in a granite base runs along May Street. Additions to the north and west walls in the 1870s and 1880s gave the plan its irregular shape, and the building reached its present size by 1886, when more than 200 workers were employed. Hammond, born in New Hampshire, took over an existing reed firm in the 1860s and incorporated the Hammond Reed Company in 1892. The company outlasted other local organ makers by continually revising instrument designs and manufacturing machinery. The building is valued as one of Worcester's few surviving Second Empire factories and for its role in the organ reed trade.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":[],"status_note":"Present use is commercial; aluminum siding was added over part of the facades around 1970.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.611167-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/7930/63793039/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000632.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000632/c59c08be8b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000632/c59c08be8b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pvmoutside","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hammond_Organ_Factory.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:Hammond_Organ_Factory.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793039","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammond_Organ_Reed_Factory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5645851"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/hammond-organ-factory-80000632/"}