{"nrhp_refnum":"89000692","name":"Wakefield Rattan Co.","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"134 Water St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50308816200004,"lon":-71.06579968099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of four surviving brick factory buildings (Buildings 10, 11, 12 and 13) at 134 Water Street, Wakefield, Massachusetts, built after 1890 as part of the Wakefield Rattan Co. works. It is now in multi-use manufacturing.","why_significant":"The buildings are all that remains of what was once the world's largest producer of reed and rattan products. The company was a primary employer in Wakefield and influenced its residential, commercial and industrial growth. Founder Cyrus Wakefield's contributions led the town to be renamed in his honor in 1868.","narrative":"Four brick factory buildings at 134 Water Street in Wakefield, Massachusetts, are the surviving remnant of the Wakefield Rattan Co., once the largest producer of reed and rattan products in the world. The flat-roofed, utilitarian buildings were constructed after 1890 and range from one to four stories, with arched windows, granite sills and pilasters or corbeled cornices. A fire around 1972 nearly razed the yard and left these structures. The company, founded by Cyrus Wakefield, who arrived in South Reading in 1851, grew to employ 1,000 people by 1873 and made the Wakefield name famous for wicker furniture. Its success shaped the town's housing, business and industrial districts, and the town was renamed in Wakefield's honor in 1868. After a 1897 merger the firm became Heywood-Wakefield Co. The complex is recognized for its local and national significance in industry and for its local architectural character.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th-early 20th century vernacular industrial","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is described as good; the property is in present use as multi-use manufacturing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.725296-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/88/7921/63792188/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000692.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000692/adc93440d8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000692/adc93440d8-1600.webp","licence":"No restrictions","author":"Internet Archive Book Images","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wakefield_memorial_-_comprising_an_historical,_genealogical_and_biographical_register_of_the_name_and_family_of_Wakefield_(1897)_(14763276021).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Internet Archive Book Images</a>, <a href=\"https://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/\" rel=\"license noopener\">No restrictions</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wakefield_memorial_-_comprising_an_historical,_genealogical_and_biographical_register_of_the_name_and_family_of_Wakefield_(1897)_(14763276021).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792188","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefield_Rattan_Company","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7961068"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/wakefield-rattan-co-89000692/"}