Windsor Court Historic District

Windsor Court Historic District is a small group of three-family houses at North Street and Windsor Court in Southbridge, built in the early twentieth century by the American Optical Company to house its workers. The houses are variations on the triple-decker. The narrow three-story form was hidden by placing the third floor in a high-pitched front gable, so each house looks like a two-and-a-half story home, with long dormers added on both sides of the roof. Originally the houses were identical, wood-shingled, with a porch on each floor at the center of the facade. Some porches have since been closed in, but 8-10 Windsor Court keeps its original appearance. The land near Central Street stayed undeveloped until Central Mills released it after about 1908. The company built three worker-housing clusters in this period, and this was the densest. The district meets criteria A and C at the local level and retains its historic integrity.