{"nrhp_refnum":"89000597","name":"Maple Street Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Maple St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Southbridge","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.074069500000064,"lon":-72.02845038853401,"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 small residential historic district on Maple Street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, made up of ten nearly identical gambrel-roofed Colonial Revival cottages built about 1915-1917 for foremen of the American Optical Company. The district covers about 1.15 acres.","why_significant":"The district is significant as an example of company-built housing for American Optical Company workers, designed by the Boston firm Loring & Leland. It reflects early-20th-century ideas that good housing made employees more efficient and showed that employers valued them. It meets criteria A and C at the local level and retains its integrity.","narrative":"Ten one-story gambrel-roofed cottages line a tree-shaded dead-end street in Southbridge, Massachusetts, five on each side, all set gambrel end to the road. Built around 1915-1917 for foremen of the American Optical Company, they share slate roofs, stucco walls, enclosed porches or sunrooms and three-bay dormers that create a full upper story. The Boston architects Loring & Leland designed them, and the same firm drew similar cottages for machinists in Whitinsville. A 1918 Architectural Record article on factory housing illustrated one of the two projects. The side-entrance plan echoes earlier company cottages built nearby in the 1870s and 1880s, and the street is separated from that workers' neighborhood only by railroad tracks. The Wells family, who owned the company, were likely aware of progressive planning ideas for industrial villages. The district is recognized for its architecture and its link to employer-built housing, and it keeps its original setting, design and materials. The cottages remain private homes in good condition.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1915-1917","architect_builder":"Loring & Leland of Boston (Charles C. Loring and Joseph D. Leland)","architectural_style":"Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Present use is private residences; general condition is good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.784517-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/53/7934/63793453/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000597.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000597/e2d1fd2fb2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000597/e2d1fd2fb2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houses_on_Maple_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:Houses_on_Maple_Street,_Southbridge_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63793453","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maple_Street_Historic_District_(Southbridge,_Massachusetts)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6753996"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/maple-street-historic-district-89000597/"}