{"nrhp_refnum":"92000998","name":"Clapp, Lucius, Memorial","other_names":["Stoughton Public Library"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6 Park St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Stoughton","county":"Norfolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.12421465400007,"lon":-71.10085554299997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick Georgian Revival former public library at 6 Park Street in Stoughton, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, built in 1903 to designs by architect Walter Atherton and now known as the Lucius Clapp Memorial.","why_significant":"The building is significant under Criterion A for representing community development in Stoughton, since it was built with a gift from benefactor Lucius Clapp to meet a need for larger library space. It is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved example of Georgian Revival civic architecture popular in early twentieth-century suburban communities. The lot also has archaeological potential as the reported site of the town's first schoolhouse (1768) and a tavern.","narrative":"Built in 1903 and dedicated in 1904, this red brick building at 6 Park Street served as Stoughton's public library for more than six decades. Architect Walter Atherton, a Stoughton native trained at MIT and the École des Beaux-Arts, designed it in the Georgian Revival style, with Indiana limestone trim, a granite foundation, a hipped slate roof, a modillioned cornice, round-headed windows and a pedimented entrance portico with paired Tuscan columns. The interior retains its original layout, with oak wainscoting, a vaulted lobby and reading rooms. Lucius Clapp donated $25,000 to cover the construction cost after earlier efforts to secure Carnegie funding failed. When a new library opened in 1969, the older building was renamed the Lucius Clapp Memorial. The Stoughton Historical Society now uses it as a museum and research center, and the Old Stoughton Musical Society also keeps its collection there. The site was earlier home to the town's first schoolhouse and a tavern.","period_of_significance":"1903 - 1942","architect_builder":"Atherton, Walter","architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Colonial Revival - Georgian Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Since 1969 it no longer serves as the town library. The Stoughton Historical Society leases it as a museum and research center, and the Old Stoughton Musical Society keeps its rare music book collection there and rehearses in the building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.164801-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/74/7962/63796274/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/92000998.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000998/6ae01dfb73-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000998/6ae01dfb73-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lucius_Clapp_Memorial,_Stoughton_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:Lucius_Clapp_Memorial,_Stoughton_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796274","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Clapp_Memorial","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6697499"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/norfolk-county/clapp-lucius-memorial-92000998/"}