{"nrhp_refnum":"84002679","name":"House at 26 Center Avenue","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"26 Center Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.51819871200007,"lon":-71.10634774499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A c. 1870 clapboard house at 26 Center Avenue in Reading, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built in a mixed Gothic Revival-Italianate style on a slight rise close to the street.","why_significant":"It is significant as part of Cummingsville, a 19th-century real-estate development, and for its link to railroad employee Erastis Knight. It is also significant for its eclectic mix of 19th-century architectural styles. It retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and feeling.","narrative":"Built around 1870 according to the town valuation book, this clapboard house at 26 Center Avenue in Reading sits on a slight rise close to the street. Its design blends several traditions. A Greek Revival setting on high brick foundations and a trabeated doorway surround combine with cut-out bargeboards along the eaves and long first-floor front windows capped with bracketed Italianate hoods. The house belongs to an area once called Cummingsville, after developer Amos Cummings, and also nicknamed Mudville for its flooded, unpaved streets. Cummings planned to finance or build workers' cottages, but the Panic of 1857 collapsed the Loan Fund Association he served as treasurer, and the expected building boom never came. Erastis Knight, a Boston machinist probably tied to the railroad, was assessed for the house in 1870 and owned it for many years. The property was listed for its place in the neighborhood's development, its association with Knight, and its eclectic architecture.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival-Italianate","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Major alterations include a one-story rear extension and shed-roof dormers; the house has not been moved and has a garage outbuilding.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.394032-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/7923/63792319/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002679.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002679/2153d47374-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002679/2153d47374-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_26CenterAvenue.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_26CenterAvenue.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792319","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_at_26_Center_Avenue","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5914187"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/house-at-26-center-avenue-84002679/"}