{"nrhp_refnum":"89002261","name":"Framingham Reservoir No. 3 Dam and Gatehouse","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"SE end of Framingham Reservoir No. 3, off MA 9/30","address_restricted":false,"city":"Framingham","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.29403704100008,"lon":-71.45959567099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1990-01-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Engineering","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A granite, earth and concrete dam and gatehouse at the southeast end of Framingham Reservoir No. 3 in Framingham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, built 1875-1878 as part of Boston's Sudbury River water supply system.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the dam and gatehouse are significant for their association with the Sudbury supply, Boston's second metropolitan water system, and as examples of mid-to-late nineteenth-century municipal water technology and architecture. The gatehouse was designed by George Clough, Boston City Architect from 1873 to 1883. Both retain integrity.","narrative":"Framingham Reservoir No. 3 Dam and Gatehouse form the southeast end of the largest of three reservoirs built in Framingham for Boston's water supply. Constructed between 1875 and 1878, the gatehouse has a rectangular block and wing with steep hipped roofs, walls of dark gray granite, lighter granite trim, narrow vertical windows, a round-arched door and a brass cupola. Inside, a granite gate chamber holds gates that control flow into 48-inch mains. The dam has a granite rubble overflow about 100 feet long, set between two earthen embankments with granite rubble core walls. George A. Clough's office designed the gatehouse, and Benjamin F. Dewing built it. The reservoir served as a settling basin for Sudbury River water, part of the second phase of Boston's system. The structures are valued as examples of municipal water engineering and architecture. Industrial growth later made the water unsuitable, and the reservoir was taken out of service, though the dam and gatehouse remain intact.","period_of_significance":"1876-1878","architect_builder":"George A. Clough, Boston City Architect (gatehouse design); gatehouse built by Benjamin F. Dewing, Boston; dam above the foundation built by J.E. Fuller and Hash, Worcester","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition described as good and structures intact, but the reservoirs have been removed from service because surrounding industrial development made the water unsuitable.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:00.603276-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7920/63792012/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/89002261.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002261/885ac88e72-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89002261/885ac88e72-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"RomulusMA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_facing_view_of_the_gatehouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">RomulusMA</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:North_facing_view_of_the_gatehouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63792012","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framingham_Reservoir_No._3_Dam_and_Gatehouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8565312"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/framingham-reservoir-no-3-dam-and-gatehouse-89002261/"}