{"nrhp_refnum":"96000304","name":"Whitney Tavern","other_names":["Baker Homestead"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"11 Patriots Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Templeton and Gardner","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.564687529000054,"lon":-72.0267281769828,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-06-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Commerce","Community Planning and Development","Entertainment/Recreation","Social History","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-a-half story Greek Revival house on Patriots Road in Templeton, Worcester County, Massachusetts (part of the 37-acre parcel extends into Gardner), dating in part to the 1780s and reaching its present form in the 1860s. It served as a tavern from 1801 to 1843.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property is significant for its role as a rural turnpike tavern and community gathering place, including a second-floor ballroom and a militia training field. It is also tied to later uses such as hop growing and the Pines picnic area, and to the Baker family. It also reflects the building's complex evolution and architecture, and holds archaeological potential.","narrative":"Whitney Tavern is a large gable-roofed house on Patriots Road in Templeton, Massachusetts, set on a wooded 37-acre parcel that reaches into Gardner. Its oldest section dates to the 1780s, and the building grew through several additions before taking its present Greek Revival form. It operated as a tavern from 1801 to 1843, serving travelers on the turnpike and hosting town gatherings, with a large second-floor room used for meetings and dancing. William Whitney ran the tavern after 1819, and his family continued it until competition from the railroads forced it to close. In 1848 the western double-house section was cut away and moved a quarter mile down the road, and the remainder became a two-family residence. The grounds retain a carriage house, a watering trough, a 1930s summer house and stone-walled yards, along with traces of hop kilns and the Pines picnic area. The property is also considered to have archaeological potential.","period_of_significance":"1782-1945","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Currently used as a single dwelling, with a small studio apartment in the west wing; the carriage house and summer house survive.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.856626-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/4/7972/63797204/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/96000304.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000304/6089b5411e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000304/6089b5411e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TempletonMA_WhitneyTavern.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:TempletonMA_WhitneyTavern.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797204","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitney_Tavern","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q17065171"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/whitney-tavern-96000304/"}