Topsfield Town Common District

Topsfield's Town Common is the town's only remaining common land and the core of its oldest settled area. Ten buildings surround it, including residences, a church, a parish house, a town hall and a library. The oldest is the Parson Capen House of 1683, a National Historic Landmark with features drawn from English architecture of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Two Federal houses, the Emerson-Jordan House of 1808 and the Emerson Center of 1814, reflect the prominent Emerson family. The Town Hall of 1873, the Greek Revival Congregational Church of 1842 and the brick Town Library of 1935 add further variety. The land served as a militia training field in early colonial times, and Minute Men gathered there before leaving for Concord and Lexington. Town meetings were later held in the Parish House and then the Town Hall. Most buildings keep their original detail, and together they show how Topsfield grew from a farming community into a modern town while keeping much of its rural character around the Common.