{"nrhp_refnum":"84002791","name":"Parker, William, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"55 Walnut St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Reading","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50950749100008,"lon":-71.10885501099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Federal-style dwelling at 55 Walnut Street in Reading, Massachusetts, built about 1796 and enlarged around 1810, with later additions including a 1910 addition by Willard P. Adden.","why_significant":"The house is tied to William Parker and his family, who took part in the 1849 split from the Congregational Church that created the Bethesda Congregational Church. It is also linked to local architect Willard P. Adden. It is an example of an 18th-century half house expanded to a full house in the early 19th century.","narrative":"Built around 1796 at 55 Walnut Street in Reading, this house began as a single-family dwelling and was greatly enlarged around 1810 into a Federal-style two-family residence. It was later converted back to a single-family home. The house sits on a small rise facing south, with a thick sill resting on large granite blocks and two interior chimneys, the larger centered on its three-bay section. Its history is tied to William Parker, who with 33 relatives joined a group of 90 dissenters from the Congregational Church in 1849. They were excommunicated and formed the Bethesda Congregational Church, and the two churches reunited in 1886. Parker's son Luther was an accomplished local artisan who built an organ, clocks, and a bass viola. Later, architect Willard P. Adden, of the firm Adden and Parker, lived here in 1916-1918. Alterations included dormers, an extension, a porch and a garage in 1968.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"1910 addition by Willard P. Adden","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Used as a private single-family dwelling at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.72709-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/96/7913/63791396/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/84002791.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002791/f3b27a1f00-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002791/f3b27a1f00-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ReadingMA_WilliamParkerHouse.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_WilliamParkerHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791396","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parker_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8016578"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/parker-william-house-84002791/"}