{"nrhp_refnum":"94000812","name":"Pepperell Center Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly, along Park, Main, Elm, Townsend and Heald Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pepperell","county":"Middlesex County","state":"MA","lat":42.66970950000004,"lon":-71.59804742505816,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1994-08-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 154-acre historic district at the central crossroads of Pepperell, Massachusetts, radiating from the Town Common along Park, Main, Elm, Townsend and Heald Streets, with 118 contributing resources dating from the mid-1700s to the early 1900s.","why_significant":"The district is significant for its architecture, community planning and development, and social history. It preserves the residential, civic and institutional core of Pepperell, with Federal and Greek Revival buildings predominating and a hilltop setting that reflects the town's development above the industrial village of East Pepperell.","narrative":"Pepperell Center is the historic heart of the town of Pepperell, in north-central Massachusetts near the New Hampshire border. The 154-acre district spreads from the Town Common along five converging streets and includes 118 contributing buildings, sites, structures and objects. Most are modest, one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half-story houses, many with attached barns, in Federal and Greek Revival styles, alongside Italianate, Queen Anne, Stick and Colonial Revival examples. The oldest part is the ca. 1749 ell of the Nathan Shipley House. Institutional buildings include the 1860 Evangelical Congregational Church, the 1874 Town Hall, Pepperell Academy of 1834, and the Lawrence Library designed by Ernest Flagg. Walton Cemetery, established in 1746, and Corporation Cemetery give the hilltop a parklike setting. The center sits above the mill village of East Pepperell and developed as the civic, cultural and social hub while industry stayed along the Nashua River. Its period of significance runs from 1746 to 1910.","period_of_significance":"1746 - 1910","architect_builder":"Ernest Flagg - Library","architectural_style":"Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Stick, Renaissance, Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most buildings are described as well preserved and largely residential, with some institutional buildings in use; the former schools have been converted to residential use, and the Old Meeting House is no longer extant.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.850327-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/7958/63795828/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/94000812.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000812/0c83b5aee0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/94000812/0c83b5aee0-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown photographer","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lawrence_Library,_Pepperell,_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown photographer</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lawrence_Library,_Pepperell,_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795828","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepperell_Center_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7166408"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/middlesex-county/pepperell-center-historic-district-94000812/"}