{"nrhp_refnum":"95001035","name":"East Blackstone Friends Meetinghouse","other_names":["Mendon Lower Meeting","Smithfield Monthly Meeting"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"197 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackstone","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.052626281000045,"lon":-71.52248949630842,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-08-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Social History","Religion","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-room Quaker meetinghouse built in 1812 with an adjoining burying ground, on a 1.12-acre lot on the west side of Elm Street in the rural northeast part of Blackstone, Massachusetts.","why_significant":"It is the only surviving Quaker meetinghouse in Blackstone and the oldest surviving place of worship in the town. It reflects the development of the village of East Blackstone and the religious life of Quakers from Mendon and Blackstone. The nomination also cites its Georgian-style architecture and the burying ground dating from 1799.","narrative":"This small Quaker meetinghouse on Elm Street in Blackstone, Massachusetts, was built in 1812 for $525. It is a one-story, three-bay clapboard building with a gable roof, slate roofing, a granite block foundation and an enclosed pedimented entrance porch. Inside, the walls are plain plaster, with wooden pews arranged in rows. A small privy and a burying ground stand on the 1.12-acre lot. The burying ground dates to 1799, when land was conveyed to the Smithfield Monthly Meeting. Local records say Seth Kelly Sr. was the first person buried there. Known as the Mendon Lower Meeting, the congregation grew after the Mendon Meeting closed in 1841. It is the only surviving Quaker meetinghouse in Blackstone and the town's oldest surviving place of worship. It was listed for its association with local religious and social history and for its modest Georgian design, with a period of significance from 1799 to 1945.","period_of_significance":"1799-1945","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial: Georgian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Meetings were held regularly until the late 1800s and sporadically until the 1960s. The meeting has not been officially laid down but is inactive. Since a 1954 agreement the Blackstone Association has used and maintained the building, and some meetings have recently been held there.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.254663-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/72/7974/63797472/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/95001035.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001035/1494497e0b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001035/1494497e0b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Blackstone_Friends_Meetinghouse,_East_Blackstone_MA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">John Phelan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_Blackstone_Friends_Meetinghouse,_East_Blackstone_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797472","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Blackstone_Friends_Meetinghouse","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5327878"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/east-blackstone-friends-meetinghouse-95001035/"}