{"nrhp_refnum":"80000647","name":"Badger, Rev. Stephen, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"87 Eliot St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Natick","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.26997119200007,"lon":-71.31812873999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Historic - Aboriginal","Historic - Non-Aboriginal","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half story timber-frame house with a one-story rear ell at 87 Eliot Street in Natick, Massachusetts, built in 1753 by an unknown builder as the home of Rev. Stephen Badger.","why_significant":"The house is an excellent local example of eighteenth-century domestic architecture, with twin chimneys, a high hip roof and a pedimented doorway. It is also tied to Natick's settlement history as the home of Stephen Badger, the last of Natick's Indian missionaries. The property may also hold archaeological value relating to the town's Christian Indian settlement.","narrative":"Built in 1753, this timber-frame house at 87 Eliot Street in Natick was the home of Rev. Stephen Badger, the last of the town's Indian missionaries. It has two and a half stories, a symmetrical five-bay facade, a high hip roof, two interior chimneys and a one-story rear ell. Natick was founded in 1650 as a settlement for Indians converted to Christianity, and Badger became its minister in 1753. During his ministry he had to balance the wishes of growing numbers of white settlers against his duties to the remaining Indians and to the English society that supported his mission. Around 1880 the house received a central gable, double doors and other Victorian details. A 1949 restoration returned it to its earlier look, using a photograph from about 1870. It is valued as a well-preserved local example of eighteenth-century domestic architecture, and as a site that may hold archaeological evidence of cultural exchange. Later, the property passed to Oliver Bacon, whose estate funded the Bacon Free Library.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Builder Unknown","architectural_style":"Eighteenth-century domestic architecture (hip-roofed, five-bay frame house)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied as a private residence; condition marked excellent. Altered around 1880 with Victorian details and restored to its pre-Victorian appearance in 1949.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.304002-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/70/7955/63795570/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/80000647.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000647/f9dc931790-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80000647/f9dc931790-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NatickMA_RevStephenBadgerHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NatickMA_RevStephenBadgerHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795570","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rev._Stephen_Badger_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14715825"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/badger-rev-stephen-house-80000647/"}