Royalston Common Historic District

Royalston Common is a village center of 34 buildings grouped around a triangular common in north-central Massachusetts, surrounded by fields, woods and hills. Twenty-eight are houses, four are public buildings and two are large barns. Most were built before or during the mid-1800s in Federal and Greek Revival styles, with white clapboard siding, symmetrical facades and fanlit doorways. Notable buildings include the Federal Bullock Mansion of 1807, the Greek Revival First Congregational Church of 1851 designed by local architect Chauncey Chase, and the Second Empire Town Hall of 1867. The common was laid out after a group of Bostonians bought the land in 1752 and were required to provide a meetinghouse, training field and burying ground. The village briefly served as a marketplace around 1800, then became residential as mill owners from South Royalston built houses and public buildings between 1830 and 1860. It was listed for its architecture and community planning.