{"nrhp_refnum":"83000652","name":"Children's Home","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"427 Robeson St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fall River","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.71472240600008,"lon":-71.14364731499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-02-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2-story red brick institutional building at 427 Robeson Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, built in 1894 as the Children's Home, on a lot of about 90,000 square feet.","why_significant":"It is significant as one of the city's early social welfare agencies and as a well-crafted, largely intact example of late 19th century institutional architecture. Its Colonial Revival design with Queen Anne echoes gives it a home-like rather than institutional look. The form states it meets criteria A and C.","narrative":"Built in 1894 at 427 Robeson Street in Fall River, this red brick building served as the Children's Home, a charity founded in 1873 through a merger of the Fall River Orphan's Asylum and the Children's Friend Society. The organization aimed to function as a home rather than an institution, and the design reflects that goal. The 2 1/2-story building combines Colonial Revival features, including a columned front porch, bracketed cornice, gambrel roof and pedimented dormers, with an asymmetrical massing, intersecting gambrels, an elliptical front window and brownstone trim that recall the Queen Anne style. A stick style picnic shelter stands on the grounds. It replaced an earlier wooden building on the same street. The building is described as well crafted and virtually intact, ranking among the city's best late 19th century institutional structures, and it sits on a large lot. Its architecture and its long record as a favored Fall River charity support its listing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial Revival (with Queen Anne-like elements)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is offices; the form also notes the Children's Home has provided a residential program for about 20 children in recent years.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.213877-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/39/7894/63789439/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000652.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000652/d5b5f98045-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000652/d5b5f98045-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:427_Robeson_FR.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Marcbela (Marc N. Belanger)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:427_Robeson_FR.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"83000677","name":"Highlands Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/highlands-historic-district-83000677/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63789439","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children%27s_Home","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5098105"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/childrens-home-83000652/"}