Old Centre Historic District

Old Centre Historic District covers about forty-four acres on top of Meetinghouse Hill, the highest ground in Winchendon, Massachusetts. It was the town's first village center, laid out around a common, a fifteen-acre training field and the first burial ground. Today it holds thirteen buildings, nearly all white frame houses with ells and barns, dating from about 1752 to 1870. They include the Richard Day House, said to be the oldest house in town, and the Greek Revival First Congregational Church of 1852, built partly with materials from an earlier meetinghouse. Old Centre was the heart of the community until around 1830, when roads, mills and later the railroad shifted growth to a manufacturing village along the Millers River. Because that growth passed it by, the hilltop kept its early layout and architecture with little change. The district was listed for its architecture and its role in the town's early settlement, and it is also considered rich in archaeological potential.