{"nrhp_refnum":"89001239","name":"Adams-Magoun House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"438 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Somerville","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.396250000000066,"lon":-71.10084999999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-09-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 2 1/2 story Federal-style clapboard house at 438 Broadway in the Winter Hill section of Somerville, Massachusetts, built about 1783 by Joseph Adams.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the best-preserved of Somerville's 18th century residences and one of the four oldest structures in the city. It meets Criterion A for its link to Somerville's agricultural past as the seat of a large farm, and Criterion C as an intact vernacular example of the transition from Georgian to Federal style. Significance is claimed at the local level.","narrative":"Standing on a low rise above Broadway in Somerville's Winter Hill section, this clapboard house was built around 1783 by Joseph Adams, a member of the same Adams family as the second and fifth U.S. Presidents. It rises two and a half stories under a gable roof, with its gable end facing the street, a five-bay facade, a pedimented entrance with a five-part leaded fanlight, very wide eaves and two interior brick chimneys. The plan follows the Georgian four-room, center-hall layout, while the detailing marks an early Federal example. It is described as one of the four oldest structures in Somerville and the only one of them still well preserved, and as the last eighteenth-century house on the length of Broadway. It once anchored a large Adams farm reaching toward the railroad. Adams's daughter Sarah Anne married John C. Magoun, for whom Magoun Square is named. No major alterations are recorded.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Built by Joseph Adams; architect unknown","architectural_style":"Federal (transition from Georgian to Federal)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Recorded as in excellent condition, with no major alterations, no outbuildings, and use as a residence.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:02.04611-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/20/7913/63791320/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001239.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001239/d69f837aa7-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001239/d69f837aa7-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jameslwoodward","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adams-Magoun_House_Somerville_MA_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jameslwoodward</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:Adams-Magoun_House_Somerville_MA_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63791320","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams-Magoun_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4680278"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/adams-magoun-house-89001239/"}