Meetinghouse Common District

Lynnfield's town center is organized around a common and a group of buildings that mostly date from the nineteenth century. The district covers about 20 acres and includes 14 buildings and two cemeteries, with religious, commercial, cultural and residential structures set back from the street under mature trees. Its focal point is the Meeting House of 1714, an oak-framed building enlarged in 1782 and given a second floor in 1836. Over time it served as a church, town hall, school and fire station, and it was restored after 1960 for civic use. Nearby are the Public Library, whose oldest section was built in 1856 as a school, the Centre Congregational Church with its 1832 chapel and 1960 addition, the Old Parsonage of 1839, and several Bryant, Whittredge and Mottey family houses. The Old Burying Ground dates to 1714. The grouping reflects the town's development, and the area has seen few major alterations since the nineteenth century.