{"nrhp_refnum":"96000738","name":"Oakdale Village Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"11--68 N. Main, 8--24 May, 6--10 Green, 12--23 High, 4--68 Laurel, 14--34 Waushacum, and park at Thomas and N. Main","address_restricted":false,"city":"West Boylston","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.39091900000005,"lon":-71.79551818527268,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-07-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A residential and institutional village district of about 36 acres in northwestern West Boylston, Worcester County, Massachusetts, centered on North Main and Laurel Streets near Wachusett Reservoir. It contains 71 buildings, mostly wooden dwellings built from the 1840s through the 1890s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the district is significant for its architecture, especially Greek Revival vernacular houses, churches and schools, and for community planning and development as a mill-related village. It has kept its scale, density and physical integrity better than surrounding areas, despite losses when the reservoir was built around 1900.","narrative":"Oakdale Village is a compact neighborhood of about 36 acres in northwestern West Boylston, Massachusetts, near the northern shore of Wachusett Reservoir. Its 71 buildings are mostly small to moderate wooden houses, one to two-and-a-half stories high, gathered around the Greek Revival Oakdale Methodist Church of 1858-59. Of these buildings, 43 contribute to the district's character and 28 do not. The oldest is the William Thomas House, built about 1780-1810. The district also includes three school buildings and a range of Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic Revival and Queen Anne details. The village grew northward from a textile mill, and the houses were built largely for middle-class residents such as shoemakers, a glazier and a leather dealer. Much of the southern part of the village was demolished around 1900 for the reservoir, yet the remaining area preserves its density, scale and appearance from the early twentieth century. That architectural cohesion and its village history underlie its significance.","period_of_significance":"c. 1780 - 1908","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic, Queen Anne","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Most of the remaining village is intact; the southern section was demolished for the reservoir. Oakdale Methodist Church is still in use by its original congregation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:03.966602-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/24/7973/63797324/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/96000738.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000738/8eeda895e1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000738/8eeda895e1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Watermark_Antiques,_Oakdale_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:Watermark_Antiques,_Oakdale_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797324","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakdale_Village_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7073816"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/oakdale-village-historic-district-96000738/"}