{"nrhp_refnum":"84002449","name":"Memorial Town Hall","other_names":["Town Hall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monson","county":"Hampden County","state":"MA","lat":42.097581098000035,"lon":-72.31283352399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-05-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Military","Politics/Government","Architecture","Performing Arts"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Victorian Gothic granite town hall on Main Street in the civic and commercial center of Monson, Massachusetts, designed in 1885 by local architect George E. Potter and dedicated that year.","why_significant":"It is described as Monson's most important piece of public architecture, built of locally quarried granite and funded in part by the prominent Reynolds family as a memorial to Civil War soldiers. It has long been the center of the town's political, social, civic and charitable life. The form argues it meets criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Monson Memorial Town Hall is a two-story granite building on Main Street, set back from the road on a one-acre lot in the town center. Designed in 1885 by local architect George E. Potter in the Victorian Gothic style, it has a T-shaped plan, a four-story tower, an octagonal turret topped by a Civil War soldier statue, and pointed arches of alternating blue and white granite. The slate roof is trimmed with copper cresting. The hall grew from a 1884 town meeting proposal by the Reynolds family, leading Monson industrialists, who donated the site and money on condition that the building be a memorial, be built of granite and be finished by May 1, 1885. It was dedicated on Memorial Day that year, using stone from the local Monson quarry. The building has housed town offices, a GAR Hall, an auditorium and a stage, and it remains the setting for civic life. The stage area was rebuilt and the roof raised in 1902.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1885)","architect_builder":"George E. Potter","architectural_style":"Victorian Gothic","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Rated excellent and unaltered in condition; still houses the town's municipal offices, safe and lock-up. The auditorium was used until recently for town meetings and events.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.487977-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/93/7951/63795193/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002449.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002449/ca5c356451-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002449/ca5c356451-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Memorial_Hall,_June_2012,_Monson_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</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:Memorial_Hall,_June_2012,_Monson_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"90000788","name":"Monson Center Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/monson-center-historic-district-90000788/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795193","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6815534"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampden-county/memorial-town-hall-84002449/"}