{"nrhp_refnum":"84002555","name":"Cook, Asa M., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"81 Prospect St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.52352474300005,"lon":-71.12028372099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Military","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large two-and-a-half-story Second Empire dwelling at 81 Prospect Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built in 1872 for Major Asa M. Cook. The architect is unknown.","why_significant":"The house is argued to be significant as the home of railroad commuters and real estate developers, and for its link to Major Asa M. Cook, a Civil War veteran and Superintendent of Warehouses at the Boston Custom House. It is also an intact, high-style example of Second Empire architecture in Reading. It meets Criteria A, B and C.","narrative":"Built in 1872 on a shaded hill at 81 Prospect Street, this two-and-a-half-story Second Empire house was the home of Major Asa M. Cook, who commanded Cook's Battery in the Civil War. Cook made money in Boston trucking and was appointed superintendent of warehouses at the Boston Custom House in 1861. He built the house a year after moving to Reading and commuted to Boston by train, probably from the nearby Highland Depot. The clapboard house has a slate mansard roof with scalloped patterning over paired bay windows, rope-edged corner boards, paired bossed brackets, pedimented windows and an Eastlake-style veranda. Dormers have cut-out pediment designs, and the door keeps sidelights and a transom. By 1910 the property belonged to Edward H. Palmer, who developed the north end of Prospect Street, known as Palmer Hill. The house is valued as a railroad commuter and developer residence and as Reading's finest intact Second Empire example.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire (French 2nd Empire)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Still a dwelling; a screened porch was added on the west and the garage is now a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:56.883218-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/26/7915/63791526/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002555.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002555/2ed5978171-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002555/2ed5978171-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_AsaMCookHouse.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:ReadingMA_AsaMCookHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791526","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_M._Cook_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4803139"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/cook-asa-m-house-84002555/"}