{"nrhp_refnum":"99001116","name":"Assonet Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by MA 24, a private Ln., Conrail RR Tracks, and High St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Freetown","county":"Bristol County","state":"MA","lat":41.79361700000004,"lon":-71.07183447107559,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-09-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Commerce","Community Planning and Development","Politics/Government","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A compact village-center historic district in Assonet, the larger of two village centers in Freetown, Bristol County, Massachusetts, set where the Assonet River meets Assonet Bay. It has 229 resources, including houses dating from c. 1720 to the mid-20th century.","why_significant":"The district keeps a well-preserved village fabric with a strong Georgian and Federal character, plus industrial remains, 19th-century boat-building sites, stone bridges, a cattle pound and several burial grounds. It records the settlement from the late 17th century through shipping, commerce and early industry, including gun manufacturing.","narrative":"Assonet Historic District is a compact village center in Freetown, Massachusetts, at the point where the Assonet River flows into Assonet Bay. The community grew from the late 1600s along crossroads formed by North and South Main Streets and Water and Elm Streets. Today it holds 196 contributing resources, mostly frame houses clad in clapboard or shingle, with granite walls, foundations and fence posts visible throughout. Houses range from a gambrel-roofed dwelling of about 1720 to mid-20th-century homes, with a noticeable concentration of Georgian and Federal buildings. Other features include a Federal-style Congregational Church of 1809, a Town Hall of 1888, a former village school, a cattle pound built into a bluff, mill and dam remains, and two fieldstone bridges. The village's history includes shipping, boat building, mills and a gun-making firm established in the 1850s. Although many commercial and industrial buildings are gone, the layout along historic routes and the river survives largely intact.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Charles C. Marble (Town Hall, 1888); Ebenezer Pierce (Congregational Church, 1809)","architectural_style":"Colonial - Georgian; Early Republic - Federal; Mid-19th Century - Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Most commercial and water-powered industrial buildings have been demolished, leaving gaps in the village fabric. Many buildings have been altered but most keep basic design integrity.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:05.145097-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/7944/63794418/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/99001116.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001116/110d1e6265-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001116/110d1e6265-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"John Phelan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_Church,_Assonet_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:North_Church,_Assonet_MA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794418","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115733622"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/bristol-county/assonet-historic-district-99001116/"}