{"nrhp_refnum":"89000533","name":"Gleason, James, Cottage","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"31 Sayles St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07932654800004,"lon":-72.04307170499999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-06-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story residential cottage at 31 Sayles Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, built about 1830-1835 by an unknown architect and moved to its present site about 1900. It has clapboard walls and a later front porch.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the cottage is significant for its link to the town's mid-19th century real estate development and for its stylish, rare Gothic Revival design. It is one of only a few Southbridge houses with Gothic Revival elements, applied to an otherwise Greek Revival form. It was probably built by James Gleason, a successful grocer in Globe Village.","narrative":"This small clapboard cottage at 31 Sayles Street in Southbridge dates to about 1830-1835 and blends Greek Revival massing with Gothic Revival detail. A recessed Gothic arched porch sits within the projecting pediment of the gable-front house. The porch is a later addition, probably from around 1900, when the house was moved from the eastern corner of Main and Sayles Streets. The original porch likely had four Doric columns. Gothic Revival saw limited popularity in Central Massachusetts, and this cottage is one of only a few remaining examples in Southbridge. It was probably built by James Gleason, a grocer who ran the Union Store and held interests in other Globe Village businesses. His house was part of a building boom on High, Sayles and Winter Streets, fueled by the growth of the Hamilton Woolen Mills. Gleason later built a larger Italianate house across from the cottage's original site. The cottage remains in residential use in good condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect unknown; probably built by James Gleason","architectural_style":"Transitional Greek Revival/Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition described as good; present use is residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.219584-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/99/7934/63793499/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000533.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000533/cf07be8449-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000533/cf07be8449-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:31_Sayles_Street,_Southbridge_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:31_Sayles_Street,_Southbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793499","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Gleason_Cottage","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6134675"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/gleason-james-cottage-89000533/"}