Common District
Why it's listed
Wakefield's Common District covers about 25 acres around the Town Common at the southern end of Lake Quannapowitt. The common was set aside by Puritan settlers in the seventeenth century, when the area was part of old Reading, and it has served as the town's civic and religious center ever since. Its protected limits were fixed by town vote in 1741. Around the green stand four churches in Romanesque Revival, Italianate, Stick and Tudor Revival styles, along with the Town Hall, which began as an Italianate high school in about 1871 and was converted in 1938. Twentieth-century public buildings include the Y.M.C.A., the Lucius Beebe Library and the Post Office. Federal brick houses from the early 1800s line Main Street. The common also holds a bandstand and the Rockery from 1884-85, war memorials, and the Old Burial Ground dating to 1688-89. The district was listed for its architectural variety and its long record as the town's center.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1640-1940 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Mixed styles including Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, Stick Style, Romanesque Revival, Tudor Revival, Neo-Colonial and Neo-Renaissance |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Acreage | 25 |
| Boundary source | NPS cultural-resource GIS polygon |
| Full listing page | Common District (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.