{"nrhp_refnum":"96000163","name":"Willard-Fisk House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"121 Whitney St. (formerly 123 Whitney St.)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Holden","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.379095248000056,"lon":-71.88583279899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A late 18th century farm complex at 123 Whitney Street in Holden, Worcester County, Massachusetts, centered on a 2 1/2 story, five-bay brick house with a clapboarded rear ell, plus barns, sheds, a wellhouse and stone walls on 5.25 acres.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the house is one of the best surviving examples of early brick domestic architecture in Holden. It is described as one of the earliest known brick buildings in town, with early double interior chimneys, and as lacking Georgian classical ornament. The property also has potential archaeological value.","narrative":"Set in the rural northwestern part of Holden, this farm complex on Whitney Street centers on a late 18th century brick house, two and a half stories tall with five bays, a center entrance and paired interior chimneys. A clapboarded ell extends behind it and holds the original kitchen with a cooking fireplace and beehive oven. Brick was rare in Central Massachusetts during the Colonial period, and the house is counted among the earliest brick buildings in Holden, alongside a similar house nearby on Whitney Street. David Fisk, a local deacon, selectman and Revolutionary War veteran, acquired the farm in 1777, and his family held it into the 1850s. Later owners farmed it, and a family took up poultry farming in the 1940s, adding a chicken house in 1948. In 1953 the City of Worcester took most of the land for reservoir purposes, leaving about five acres with stone walls, outbuildings and open fields. The property was recognized for its architecture, with archaeological potential also noted.","period_of_significance":"Late 18th C. - 1945","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Georgian","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a single dwelling; the form notes the 1940s chicken coop, barn and shed, and a wellhouse reconstructed in 1994.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.639055-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/76/7971/63797176/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/96000163.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000163/fa2b414042-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000163/fa2b414042-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HoldenMA_WillardFiskHouse.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HoldenMA_WillardFiskHouse.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797176","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willard-Fisk_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8003358"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/willard-fisk-house-96000163/"}