{"nrhp_refnum":"82004420","name":"Townsend House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"980 Central Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Needham","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.291340741000056,"lon":-71.24904799599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story wood frame house at 980 Central Avenue in Needham, Massachusetts, first built about 1720 by Reverend Jonathan Townsend and later enlarged and remodeled. It stands on its original site near the early town center.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Needham's early ministers, beginning with Rev. Jonathan Townsend, the first minister of the town's First Church, and continuing with Rev. Samuel West and Rev. Stephen Palmer. It is also a good example of eighteenth-century construction modified in the nineteenth century to meet changing needs. The nomination argues it meets criteria B and C.","narrative":"This house at 980 Central Avenue in Needham began about 1720 as a two-story, one-room-deep wood frame dwelling with a central chimney, built by Reverend Jonathan Townsend, the first minister of the town's First Church. It later passed to other ministers, including Samuel West, who added rooms after 1769, and Stephen Palmer, who bought it in 1793. During the Revolution the town's stores of powder, ball and flint were kept there. Around 1837 a Greek Revival entry and stairhall turned the house toward the north, and about 1870 the missing southwest quarter and a mansard roof gave it a four-square form. A kitchen and garage ell followed in the twentieth century. The property is valued for its links with Needham's early clergy and as an eighteenth-century house adapted through the nineteenth century. It remains a private home on its original site, set among lawns, gardens and shade trees.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"Rev. Jonathan Townsend (1720)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival entries and mansard roof additions on an early eighteenth-century house","criteria":["B","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in use as a private residence; condition marked good, altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:53.225947-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/36/7963/63796336/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/82004420.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004420/5fe914d19e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82004420/5fe914d19e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NeedhamMA_TownsendHouse.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:NeedhamMA_TownsendHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796336","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Townsend_House_(Needham,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16901943"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/townsend-house-82004420/"}