{"nrhp_refnum":"87002548","name":"Shelburne Falls Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bridge and State Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Shelburne","county":"Franklin County","state":"MA","lat":42.603060000000056,"lon":-72.74128569879514,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-01-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 26-acre commercial and civic historic district straddling the Deerfield River in the village of Shelburne Falls, in the towns of Shelburne and Buckland, Massachusetts. It contains 43 resources, mostly 19th-century brick and frame commercial blocks along Bridge Street, plus two bridges.","why_significant":"The district is significant under criteria A and C at the local level. It reflects mid-to-late-19th-century commercial and industrial growth driven by waterpower at the falls and firms such as Lamson and Goodnow. It also retains many intact Victorian Gothic Revival, Greek Revival and Italianate commercial blocks and civic buildings. Decades of economic decline after the Great Depression left the village center remarkably intact.","narrative":"Shelburne Falls is a compact village center on both banks of the Deerfield River, split between the towns of Shelburne and Buckland in Massachusetts. The 26-acre historic district holds 43 buildings and structures, mostly two- and three-story brick or frame commercial blocks lining Bridge Street, along with churches, town halls, a library and two bridges. Its growth followed the 1830s use of the falls to power metal-working shops, with Lamson and Goodnow becoming the major employer. Shops, banks and a hotel arose to serve the workforce, including the Thayer Block of 1837 and the granite Hotel Block of about 1852. Styles range from Greek Revival and Italianate to Gothic Revival and Georgian Revival. The Bridge of Flowers, built in 1908 as a streetcar bridge, is also included. Economic decline after the Great Depression limited new development, so the village keeps a largely intact late-19th and early-20th-century commercial character.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1830s to 1937","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Italianate, Greek Revival, Late-19th Century Vernacular","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most buildings are still in commercial, civic, religious and educational use; the document notes revitalization efforts with a design review board encouraging facade restorations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.595875-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7951/63795133/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87002548.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002548/f7dea3c09a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002548/f7dea3c09a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"ToddC4176 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bridge_of_Flowers.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">ToddC4176 (talk)</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:Bridge_of_Flowers.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795133","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelburne_Falls,_Massachusetts","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7493324"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/franklin-county/shelburne-falls-historic-district-87002548/"}