{"nrhp_refnum":"99000185","name":"Upton Town Hall","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Upton","county":"Worcester County","state":"MA","lat":42.17396583800007,"lon":-71.59161674499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-02-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick town hall in the High Victorian Gothic style, built in 1884 at 1 Main Street on Central Square in Upton's center village, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was designed by the Worcester firm E. Boyden and Son.","why_significant":"The building has served as Upton's primary meeting place since 1884 and reflects the town's expanding municipal services in a growing manufacturing community. It is a well-preserved, complexly massed example of High Victorian Gothic design by a well-known Worcester architectural firm. It retains integrity and meets criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Completed in 1884 on Central Square in Upton's center village, this red brick building has housed town government and public gatherings for well over a century. It was designed by the Worcester firm E. Boyden and Son in the High Victorian Gothic style, with a complex front section for offices and a library and a large cruciform auditorium at the rear. Brick walls are banded with granite and sandstone, and a belfry rises above the entry. Inside, the auditorium retains a stage, a richly ornamented balcony and carved roof trusses, with a smaller second hall above the offices. The building replaced Southwick's Tavern, and the town debated the project for more than a year before voting to build. It reflects how a growing manufacturing town added offices, a library, a lock-up and a large meeting space in one ambitious landmark. It remains well preserved and is still used as the town hall.","period_of_significance":"1884-1949","architect_builder":"E. Boyden and Son (Elbridge Boyden and Son), Worcester","architectural_style":"High Victorian Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as the town hall, with offices in the basement and a surviving auditorium; the roof slate has been replaced by asphalt shingles.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:04.547079-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/30/7973/63797330/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/99000185.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000185/fd62d8e678-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000185/fd62d8e678-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Upton_Town_Hall,_MA.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:Upton_Town_Hall,_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63797330","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Town_Hall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7899402"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/worcester-county/upton-town-hall-99000185/"}