{"nrhp_refnum":"87002558","name":"Jenckes, E. N., Store","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Douglas","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07190151300006,"lon":-71.71364493299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-01-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2-story Greek Revival frame general store on Main Street in East Douglas, Massachusetts, built about 1825 and enlarged with several additions between 1845 and 1892.","why_significant":"The store is argued to be significant for its role in the commercial life of East Douglas during more than a century of continuous operation. It is also considered architecturally significant as one of very few late Federal period commercial buildings to survive in Massachusetts and as a remarkably intact Greek Revival store. Much of its original shelving, counters, ledgers and merchandise remains.","narrative":"Built around 1825 on the Ninth Massachusetts Turnpike in East Douglas, this wood-frame general store is a 2 1/2-story Greek Revival building with a gable roof and a full two-story porch carried on round columns. Elias Balcom established it, probably as the first store in East Douglas. Gardner Chase enlarged it in 1845, and later additions came in 1858, 1860, 1885, 1888 and 1892. Edward N. Jenckes bought the business in 1883 and ran it until his death in 1924, selling dry goods, groceries, grain, clothing and household items, and bartering with customers and allowing credit. Business declined with local industry and the automobile, and the store closed in the 1950s. It became a thrift shop and, in 1972, passed to the Douglas Historical Society. Original counters, shelves, ledgers dating to 1877, a safe and many period goods survive, making it a rare intact commercial interior and a local landmark of both architecture and commerce.","period_of_significance":"1825-1937","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Store ceased business in the 1950s, became a thrift shop until 1972, then was turned over to the Douglas Historical Society; current function is museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.648196-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/8/7975/63797508/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/87002558.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002558/be3527799d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/87002558/be3527799d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E_N_Jenckes_Store_Museum,_East_Douglas_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:E_N_Jenckes_Store_Museum,_East_Douglas_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797508","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._N._Jenckes_Store","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5322071"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/jenckes-e-n-store-87002558/"}