{"nrhp_refnum":"83004137","name":"Taft Brothers Block","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2-8 S. Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Uxbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07630303700006,"lon":-71.62909686299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-10-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story red brick commercial block at 2-8 South Main Street in Uxbridge, Massachusetts, built in 1902 for Robert and Jacob Taft at a major intersection at the north end of the town's commercial district.","why_significant":"It is a good local example of late Victorian commercial architecture and one of three large commercial blocks built in Uxbridge around the turn of the century. It also reflects the rebuilding of the town center's commercial district after two fires in the mid-1890s. It stands on the approximate site of the earlier Capron Building, destroyed by fire in 1896.","narrative":"Standing at 2-8 South Main Street in Uxbridge, this three-story red brick commercial block was built in 1902 for Robert and Jacob Taft, grocers. It covers nearly all of its corner lot at a major intersection at the north end of the town's commercial district. Decoration is restrained, limited to a brick cornice and rock-faced granite trim around the windows and storefronts. The third floor is taller than the others because it originally held a public hall, a common feature of commercial blocks of the period. The building replaced the Capron Building, a Federalist style block of about 1814-1820 that housed a dry goods store, bank offices and a hall before a fire destroyed it on December 20, 1896. The block is regarded as a good local example of late Victorian commercial design, one of three large blocks built in Uxbridge around 1900, and it recalls the reconstruction of the town center after two fires in the mid-1890s. The storefront was rebuilt in the 1970s.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Astylistic late Victorian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Present use is commercial and offices; the storefront was rebuilt in the 1970s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.60089-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/7931/63793121/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83004137.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004137/815bb01e39-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83004137/815bb01e39-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taft_Brothers_Block,_Uxbridge_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:Taft_Brothers_Block,_Uxbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793121","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taft_Brothers_Block","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7675028"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/taft-brothers-block-83004137/"}