{"nrhp_refnum":"84002765","name":"Oddfellows Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Central Square","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stoneham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.481057226000075,"lon":-71.09918752199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-04-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A commercial and fraternal building in Central Square, Stoneham, Massachusetts, built around 1868 in the Second Empire style, with retail stores on the ground level and a lodge hall above.","why_significant":"It is one of three major mid-to-late 19th-century commercial buildings at the town center, all dating from the 1860s and early 1870s during a prosperous period in the shoe industry. It is a good example of Second Empire commercial architecture and reflects the role of fraternal associations in Stoneham's economic development.","narrative":"Built around 1868 in Stoneham's Central Square, this three-story commercial building follows the Second Empire mansard-roof tradition common to important local buildings of its day. Its best-preserved features are the third-story dormers, each with a triangular pedimented lintel and small brackets, along with a patterned slate roof and a bracketed cornice. The central dormer carries jig-sawed trim marking the 1878 purchase from original owner Isaac Hersam. Although the clapboarding has been covered with stucco, the building keeps its original form and setting. It was bought for Odd Fellows meetings, and the Odd Fellows Hall Association, formed in 1872, included several prominent businessmen. Stoneham's Odd Fellows included Columbian Lodge, Columbian Encampment, the Daughters of Rebekah and Canton Fells. Ground-floor shops over the years included a grocery from about 1869 and a drugstore from about 1895. It was listed for its role in the town's shoe-industry-era commercial center and as a good example of its style.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Second Empire","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is mixed retail. The exterior was stuccoed over the original clapboarding and a rear addition was made at an unknown date.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.541935-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/8/7915/63791508/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002765.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002765/816174d426-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002765/816174d426-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oddfellows_Building,_Stoneham_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:Oddfellows_Building,_Stoneham_MA.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"89002277","name":"Central Square Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/massachusetts/central-square-historic-district-89002277/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791508","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oddfellows_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7077491"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/oddfellows-building-84002765/"}