{"nrhp_refnum":"82001984","name":"Watson, Abraham, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"181-183 Sherman St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cambridge","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.39238955700006,"lon":-71.12120546599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A mid-18th century Georgian farmhouse at 181-83 Sherman Street in Northwest Cambridge, Massachusetts, built about 1750 for Abraham Watson. It was moved to its present site in 1847-48 from 2140 Massachusetts Avenue.","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest surviving example of Georgian architecture beyond Old Cambridge and one of two surviving houses in Northwest Cambridge built before 1775. Its owner, Abraham Watson Jr., took part in Revolutionary-era government, and a skirmish with retreating British troops on April 19, 1775 occurred near the house. Its symmetrical facade and refined window details reflect the owner's prosperity.","narrative":"Built around 1750, this Georgian farmhouse at 181-83 Sherman Street in Northwest Cambridge began life at 2140 Massachusetts Avenue. It was moved to its current site in 1847-48 as pressure for new development grew. The clapboard house has a gambrel roof, a two-room center-hall plan and a symmetrical five-bay facade, with a cornice over the second-story windows and moulded sills and crowns on the remaining window frames. These features point to the prosperity of its original owner, Abraham Watson Jr. (1729-1781). Watson served on the Committee of Correspondence in 1772, represented the town in the Provincial Congress in 1774, and later was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention held in Cambridge in 1779-1780. A skirmish with British troops retreating from Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 took place very near the house, which may have served briefly as a hospital. It is recognized as the oldest surviving Georgian building outside Old Cambridge and remains a residence.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is residential; the house was moved in 1847-48 but is otherwise recorded as unaltered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.261189-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/2/7906/63790602/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82001984.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001984/300fc179d3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001984/300fc179d3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Abraham_Watson_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Abraham_Watson_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790602","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Watson_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4669222"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/watson-abraham-house-82001984/"}