Ayer Main Street Historic District

Main Street in Ayer, Massachusetts, is a compact commercial district of about eight acres that grew up around a railroad crossing. Before the 1840s the area was farmland, but the arrival of four rail lines at what was called Groton Junction turned it into a commercial center. A fire in 1872 destroyed the wooden business district, and by 1898 most of the brick blocks seen today had been built in High Victorian Gothic, Second Empire, Italianate and Neo-Classical styles. They include Page's Block, Mead's Block, the Nutting Block, the 1876 Town Hall and the 1898 North Middlesex Savings Bank. A second phase of building on the south side of Main Street began in 1914 and added commercial blocks and later roadside structures tied to Routes 2A and 111. The district has 12 contributing buildings. Its significance rests on its ties to commerce, transportation and commercial architecture between 1848 and 1938.