{"nrhp_refnum":"83000837","name":"Winchester Town Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"71 Mount Vernon St. (formerly Mount Auburn St. (typo))","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winchester","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.452660277000064,"lon":-71.13442763899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-03-31","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Winchester Town Hall is a large brick municipal building at 71 Mount Vernon Street in downtown Winchester, Massachusetts, designed by Boston architects Rand & Taylor and erected in 1887.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a classic example of late 19th century American public architecture by a distinguished Boston firm, embodying Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival characteristics. It is also tied to the civic development of Winchester, including the 1850 gift from Colonel William P. Winchester that led to the building and its clock and bell tower.","narrative":"Winchester Town Hall, at 71 Mount Vernon Street, is a massive pressed-brick building erected in 1887 to designs by the Boston firm Rand & Taylor. It has Longmeadow freestone trim, a Rockport granite foundation, a slate roof, and a complex roofline of gables, dormers and towers. A 125-foot clock and bell tower dominates the skyline. The idea for a town hall began in 1850, when Colonel William Parsons Winchester offered $3000 after the new town was named for him, but the building came more than 35 years later after heated debate over site and cost. The tower's clock and bell were bought with his gift. Rand & Taylor, whose partner George D. Rand lived in Winchester, designed the hall in Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles. It originally held town offices, a library, the historical society and a police lock-up, and now houses town offices and a 1000-seat auditorium used for town meetings and community events.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1887)","architect_builder":"Rand & Taylor, architects","architectural_style":"Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied; currently houses the town offices, with an auditorium retained at the west end. Altered by renovations in 1964 and 1968, described as minor or reversible.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.996194-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/7960/63796023/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000837.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000837/61b0da40d3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000837/61b0da40d3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Town_Hall,_Winchester_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Town_Hall,_Winchester_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"86002943","name":"Winchester Center Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/winchester-center-historic-district-86002943/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796023","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Town_Hall_(Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8023864"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/winchester-town-hall-83000837/"}