Centre Village Historic District

Main Street in downtown Southbridge, Massachusetts, holds a district of thirty-one buildings, a small park and the oldest section of the town cemetery, spread over roughly four-tenths of a mile. Wood frame houses of former town leaders stand at the southeastern end, civic and church buildings occupy the middle, and three- and four-story brick commercial blocks lie toward the northwest. Italianate and Second Empire styles dominate, with Greek Revival, late Federal and Georgian Revival examples. Southbridge grew from a mill town incorporated in 1816, expanding from 830 residents to 10,000 by 1900, which explains its urban character. The Edwards brothers, merchants, built many commercial buildings, including an 1852 department store. Ebenezer and Holmes Ammidown, a mill organizer and a hotel proprietor, shaped the district as well. Daniel Burnham of Chicago designed the bank and library in the Georgian Revival style. Few intrusions or alterations mar the district, which was listed as the center of the town's commercial and political life.