{"nrhp_refnum":"81000122","name":"Fairhaven Town Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Center St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fairhaven","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.636366286000055,"lon":-70.90339353699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1981-01-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A municipal town hall on the north side of Center Street in downtown Fairhaven, Bristol County, Massachusetts, designed by Charles Brigham and built between 1892 and 1894.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the building is a major work of architect Charles Brigham and one of the group of buildings he designed for Fairhaven that were gifts of oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. It has served as the center of Fairhaven's social and municipal life for more than three quarters of a century. Its tower and surviving original setting also give it visual importance in the town.","narrative":"Fairhaven Town Hall is a red brick and granite municipal building on Center Street, built between 1892 and 1894 to designs by Boston architect Charles Brigham. Its style mixes Romanesque Revival features, such as round-arched openings and a triple-arched entrance loggia, with Gothic details, including crocketed turret caps and trefoil-headed windows. Two corner towers of unequal size, one holding a four-faced clock and the other a bell, give the building its picturesque profile. Inside, carved oak woodwork runs throughout, and a second-floor great hall was fitted as a theater. The hall was a gift to the town from oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers, one of several Brigham buildings he gave Fairhaven, and Mark Twain delivered the dedication address in 1894. It was the town's first true town hall and has kept its municipal role, with the great hall used for theater, town meetings, graduations and balls. Its tower remains a landmark in the downtown.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Charles Brigham (architect); interior decoration by A.B. Cutter & Co. of New York, with Frank Hill Smith","architectural_style":"Late 19th century eclectic, combining Romanesque Revival and Gothic elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Rated excellent and largely unaltered; in use as the town hall, with the great hall still used for events.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:54.939468-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/7945/63794544/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/81000122.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000122/915c315929-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/81000122/915c315929-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairhaven_Town_Hall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fairhaven_Town_Hall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794544","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairhaven_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5430471"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/fairhaven-town-hall-81000122/"}