{"nrhp_refnum":"89000577","name":"Sumner, George, House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"32 Paige Hill Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.07892781600003,"lon":-72.03112322799996,"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 two-and-a-half story, four-bay Federal style house at 32 Paige Hill Road in Southbridge, Massachusetts, dating to about 1812-1830. It is clapboard-sided and sits on a steep rise overlooking a river.","why_significant":"The house is tied to Southbridge's settlement period and the growth of its mill economy through Maj. George Sumner, a clothier who adopted early mechanical wool carding and was the first in town to contract for the whole woolens manufacturing process. It is also a late vernacular example of the Federal style, with an unusual gable-end street facade featuring a pediment, fanlight and carved swag panel.","narrative":"Set on a steep rise above a river on Paige Hill Road, this clapboard house in Southbridge was built between about 1812 and 1830. It is a late vernacular version of the Federal style, two and a half stories tall with four bays. The entrance, with a fanlight, is on the longer side, while the gable end facing the street carries a full pediment, a large fanlight and a carved panel with swags, despite having no door. It is unclear whether that treatment was original or a later updating. A house appears here on the 1830 map, and accounts link it to Maj. George Sumner, also called Deacon Sumner, a clothier who came from Spencer in 1802. He took over a clothier's business at Marcy's Mills, used early powered wool-carding machines, and was the first in Southbridge to contract for complete woolens manufacture. He retired about 1832. A gabled rear addition with a fan in the pediment dates to the 1890s.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Federal (late vernacular)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good; in use as a residence, as it was originally. Not moved.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.50518-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/7934/63793465/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000577.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000577/1b739760c1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000577/1b739760c1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:32_Paige_Hill_Road,_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:32_Paige_Hill_Road,_Southbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793465","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sumner_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5544954"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/sumner-george-house-89000577/"}