{"nrhp_refnum":"89001545","name":"Gale-Banks House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"935 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waltham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.37599484300006,"lon":-71.24891094099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Federal-style farmhouse at 935 Main Street in Waltham, Massachusetts, built about 1798 by Jacob Gale. It sits in a commercial district on a major commercial street.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a well-preserved, rare example of an early Federal farmhouse in Waltham. It was also the home of Nathaniel P. Banks, a Massachusetts governor, congressman, Speaker of the House and Civil War general. The final review accepted it for architecture under Criterion C as a locally significant early Federal farmhouse.","narrative":"Built about 1798 by Jacob Gale, this farmhouse at 935 Main Street in Waltham is an early Federal-style dwelling now surrounded by commercial development. It has a five-by-four bay double profile, a low hipped roof, cornerboards, two large brick chimneys that were probably rebuilt, and an entrance with pilasters, a narrow transom and sidelights. A hipped dormer and a porch with fluted Doric columns were apparently added in the nineteenth century. The land had belonged to the Gale family since the seventeenth century. In 1855 Nathaniel P. Banks bought the homestead and its roughly twenty acres. Born in a Waltham mill tenement, Banks became a state legislator, congressman, Speaker of the House, Governor of Massachusetts and a Union general. The house was valued as one of the few well-preserved early Federal farmhouses left in the city. Reviewers accepted it for its architecture, and its connection to Banks adds historical interest.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Built by Jacob Gale; architect unknown","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent; the property has not been moved and has no outbuildings. The porch roof balustrade, the main roof balustrade and the access door have been removed.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.688352-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/7907/63790759/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89001545.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001545/148c0454dc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001545/148c0454dc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tim Pierce","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gale-Banks_House.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tim Pierce</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:Gale-Banks_House.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63790759","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gale%E2%80%93Banks_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5518255"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/gale-banks-house-89001545/"}