{"nrhp_refnum":"91000242","name":"Houghton Memorial Building","other_names":["Reuben Hoar Library","Littleton Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4 Rogers St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Littleton","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.539000034000026,"lon":-71.48368686599997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-03-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small yellow brick and white terra-cotta Colonial Revival library building at 4 Rogers Street in Littleton Center, Littleton, Massachusetts. It was built in 1894-1895 to designs by the Boston firm of Perkins and Betton and houses the Reuben Hoar Library.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a well-crafted, academically formal Colonial Revival institutional building, unique in a town of mostly vernacular wooden buildings, and an example of Perkins and Betton's work. It is also an important public institution, funded by the Houghton family in memory of Reuben Hoar, that has served as the town library for about 100 years.","narrative":"Built in 1894-1895 at the center of Littleton, Massachusetts, this small library is faced in yellow brick with white terra-cotta trim and designed in the Colonial Revival style by the Boston firm of Perkins and Betton. Its off-center entrance pavilion has a pedimented gable, a Palladian window and an arched doorway flanked by bronze tablets naming the town's Civil War dead. Inside, a waiting room, reading room with a fireplace and woodwork, and iron book stacks remain largely intact. The building was a gift from Elizabeth and Clement S. Houghton in memory of their father, William Stevens Houghton, who had earlier funded the town's library to honor Reuben Hoar, a farmer who helped the Houghton family through a financial crisis in the 1830s. Its refined masonry design is unusual in a town of mostly wooden buildings, and it has served as Littleton's library for about a century. The roof is noted as needing repair.","period_of_significance":"1895-1940","architect_builder":"Perkins, Charles Bruen; Betton, Cornelius Grinnell (Perkins and Betton)","architectural_style":"Late 19th Century Revivals/Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The form describes the building as in remarkably good condition after about ninety years of continuous use, though the roof needs repair. Function entries list the current use as vacant or work in progress, which conflicts with the narrative.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.384872-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/65/7958/63795865/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/91000242.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000242/e0c15a125c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000242/e0c15a125c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houghton_Memorial_Building,_Littleton_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houghton_Memorial_Building,_Littleton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795865","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houghton_Memorial_Building","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5912976"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/houghton-memorial-building-91000242/"}