{"nrhp_refnum":"99000050","name":"Ashburnham Center Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly along MA 12 and MA 101 in Ashburnham","address_restricted":false,"city":"Ashburnham","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.63705450000006,"lon":-71.90883587807085,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-01-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A compact village historic district in Ashburnham Center, Worcester County, Massachusetts, centered on Main Street and its side streets. It holds about 250 resources built between about 1776 and c. 1948, mostly houses along with commercial and civic buildings.","why_significant":"The district shows the growth of Ashburnham's village center from the early 19th century, when the civic focus moved down from Meetinghouse Hill. Chair, woodenware, tanning and cotton industries along Phillips Brook, notably the Winchester Chair Factory, drove the growth. The architecture, mostly Greek Revival with Federal and later Victorian styles, reflects that development.","narrative":"Ashburnham Center is a village historic district in Worcester County, Massachusetts, laid out along Main Street at the crossing of Routes 12 and 101. It contains roughly 250 resources dating from about 1776 to c. 1948, including houses of mill owners, merchants and workers, plus stores, churches, a town hall, schools and a library. Residential growth gathered here in the early 19th century, and the village became the civic center after the old hilltop meetinghouse was abandoned in 1832. The Congregational Church followed in 1834 and the Town House in 1838. Industry along Phillips Brook, including tanneries, cotton and woodenware mills and the Winchester Chair Factory, which employed 300 workers by 1860, fueled the expansion. Greek Revival dominates, with Federal, Italianate, Second Empire and later Victorian examples. Many buildings have been altered, but the district as a whole retains its character as a compact New England village.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, Federal, Gothic, Italianate, Second Empire, Queen Anne, Stick, Romanesque, Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival, Bungalow","criteria":[],"status_note":"The former Stevens Library is noted as now vacant; most other buildings remain in residential, commercial, civic or religious use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.244518-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/7973/63797322/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/99000050.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000050/8c557c9fcf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000050/8c557c9fcf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ashburnham_Historical_Society_Meeting_House,_Ashburnham,_Massachusetts.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:Ashburnham_Historical_Society_Meeting_House,_Ashburnham,_Massachusetts.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797322","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashburnham_Center_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4804649"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/ashburnham-center-historic-district-99000050/"}