{"nrhp_refnum":"95000100","name":"South Amherst Common Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"445 Shays St., South Amherst Common, 979--1081 S. East St. and 324 Pomeroy Ln.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Amherst","county":"Hampshire County","state":"MA","lat":42.34125000000003,"lon":-72.50463397201489,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-02-17","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 13-acre historic district centered on the South Amherst Common, a triangular village green in Amherst, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, surrounded by a church, school, library, houses and farm outbuildings dating from about 1740 to 1930.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be significant for its architecture, for community planning and development, and for social history. The Common was created in 1788 when the town narrowed its highways, and it remains the center of a rural, agricultural village distinct from the rest of Amherst. The buildings range from Georgian to Colonial Revival and keep a consistent scale and orientation toward the green.","narrative":"South Amherst Common is a village green in Amherst, Massachusetts, ringed by a Neo-classical church, a school, a library, farmhouses and barns. Two miles south of Amherst Center, it has no commercial buildings and is bordered by farms and single-family homes. The Common was created in 1788, when the town narrowed its highways and reserved the full road width at the main intersection. Houses built from about 1742 onward face the green, including the Georgian Nathaniel Coleman House with its garrison overhangs and several regionally high-style Federal houses. The 1825 Congregational Church, the 1902 brick school and the 1930 Munson Memorial Library, designed by Karl S. Putnam of Northampton, represent later civic building. Barns, carriage houses and paired dairy silos record the farming past. The district was listed for its architecture, its community planning and development, and its role in the social history of a rural village that stayed distinct from the educational and commercial center of town.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1740-1930","architect_builder":"Putnam, Karl S., Architect; Goss, Philip L. & Nutting, George","architectural_style":"Georgian, Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Queen Anne, Craftsman, Colonial Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Current functions listed include church, library, single dwellings, storage barns and the public common; the former Town Farm is now a private residence and the South Amherst School serves as an alternative school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.705298-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/45/7954/63795445/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/95000100.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000100/3dfb6615a5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000100/3dfb6615a5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:324_Pomeroy_Lane,_South_Amherst_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:324_Pomeroy_Lane,_South_Amherst_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63795445","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Amherst_Common_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7565984"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/hampshire-county/south-amherst-common-historic-district-95000100/"}