Edward's Plain-Dowse's Corner Historic District

Along North Main Street in Sherborn, Massachusetts, a string of 33 buildings and an old burial ground forms a semirural district of about 87 acres. Most buildings are wood-frame houses of no more than two and a half stories, ranging from a Georgian residence of about 1750 to a single Queen Anne house of 1880. Federal and Greek Revival styles dominate, reflecting prosperity between the Revolution and the Civil War. The area grew into a node of light manufacturing, with tanners, whipmakers, blacksmiths, gunmakers, cider makers and shoe manufacturers working here. Members of the Dowse family, for whom Dowse's Corner is named, built six houses during the 1840-1860 building boom and ran shoe and whip businesses. A stone edge-tool factory of 1796, a schoolhouse and a cider mill survive, now mostly converted to homes. Only two buildings are considered intrusions. The district was recognised for its intact setting, its architecture, its links to local families and its potential archaeological sites.