{"nrhp_refnum":"89000713","name":"South Reading Academy","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"7 Foster St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wakefield","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.50307487900005,"lon":-71.07151927099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-07-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Federal-style former academy building at 7 Foster Street, Wakefield, Massachusetts, built about 1828-1829 by Adam Wiley and his father. It was moved to its present site in 1891-92.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a nearly intact early 19th-century school building adapted from a residential form. It served as one of the earliest Baptist academies in the country, and later had many public uses, making it a Wakefield landmark. It is nominated at the local level under exception C.","narrative":"Built around 1828-1829, this two-story Federal-style building at 7 Foster Street in Wakefield began as an academy for young men and doubled as the meeting house of the First Baptist Church and Society. It was reportedly only the eighth Baptist academy established in the country. Its original site was on Academy Hill, but it was moved to Foster Street in 1891-92. The town bought it in 1847 for $2,200 and used it as a school until 1871. Later it served as a GAR post, a Methodist church, and a meeting hall for the Fraternal Order of Eagles, then became a restaurant in the 1970s, when a fire destroyed much of the interior. It has since been restored for commercial use. The building is three bays wide and seven bays long, with a gable roof, shingled pediment, six-over-six windows and a recessed entry with an unusual Federal keystone motif.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Adam Wiley & his father","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair/good; recently restored for reuse as a commercial building, with present use given as office.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.029347-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/41/7907/63790741/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89000713.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000713/6f9facf115-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89000713/6f9facf115-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WakefieldMA_SouthReadingAcademyBuilding.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WakefieldMA_SouthReadingAcademyBuilding.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790741","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Reading_Academy","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7568291"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/south-reading-academy-89000713/"}