{"nrhp_refnum":"85000695","name":"Waters Farm","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"53 Waters Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sutton","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.10690476800005,"lon":-71.78267813684764,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-04-04","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Prehistoric","Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A farmstead at 53 Waters Road in Sutton, Massachusetts, on a hill overlooking Manchaug Pond. The main farmhouse was built in 1757 by Stephen Waters, with additions in 1830, 1840 and 1925, on a 104-acre parcel.","why_significant":"The farm supported seven generations of the Waters family in a self-sufficient rural way of life, and documents over 150 years of agricultural history in Sutton, a center of agricultural prosperity in Worcester County. The ruins of lost outbuildings offer archaeological potential for eighteenth- and nineteenth-century farm life. The property also overlaps a known prehistoric archaeological site along Manchaug Pond.","narrative":"Overlooking Manchaug Pond in southwest Sutton, Waters Farm is a 104-acre farmstead centered on a farmhouse built in 1757 by Stephen Waters. The five-bay, two-story Georgian-period house has a central chimney and has grown through additions made in 1830, 1840 and 1925, with the east end restored in 1983 from nineteenth-century photographs. Interior details such as an open stringer staircase, chair rails and a remnant of stenciled border survive. The Waters family were early Sutton settlers who farmed here for seven generations, selling apples and cider while growing food crops and keeping livestock. Most outbuildings, including a barn, carpenter's shop and blacksmith shop, were lost, many in the 1938 hurricane, but their foundations and ruins hold archaeological value. The pond shoreline is also a known prehistoric site. The property was bequeathed to the Town of Sutton, which plans a museum of eighteenth-century rural life.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"various members of the Waters family","architectural_style":"Georgian-period farmhouse","criteria":["A","C","D"],"status_note":"Bequeathed to the Town of Sutton, to be managed by a preservation committee that plans a historical museum of eighteenth-century rural New England culture, plus hiking trails and a wildlife sanctuary. The form marks it as occupied.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.796052-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/51/7971/63797151/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/85000695.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000695/0fb9e562b0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000695/0fb9e562b0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waters_Farm,_West_Sutton_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:Waters_Farm,_West_Sutton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797151","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waters_Farm","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7974401"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/waters-farm-85000695/"}