Taunton Alms House
Why it's listed
Built in 1876 on Norton Avenue in Taunton, this brick almshouse replaced an earlier poorhouse on the same site and was the city's first substantial publicly maintained institution for relief of the poor. It housed 60 paupers, many of them children who were placed with local families after a year to encourage good character. The facility was partly self-supporting, with a communal farm where inmates raised livestock, legumes, fruit and hay. Local architect E.C. Chandler adapted the Italianate style to an institutional building. It has nine bays, stone lintels and sills, staggered quoins, and a central entrance with sidelights set in a slightly projecting gable-fronted pavilion. The building retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship and association. It was listed for its architecture and for reflecting late 19th-century social reform in Taunton. The building later served as a nursing home, and the nominated boundary covers the building and 12 feet of land around its foundation.
Significance in brief: It was the first substantial city-maintained institution for relief of the poor and reflects the late 19th-century social reform movement. It is also an excellent local example of institutional brick architecture in the Italianate style. The nomination cites Criteria A and C.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 84002223, listed July 5, 1984. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Norton Ave., Taunton |
|---|---|
| County | Bristol County |
| Listed | July 5, 1984 |
| Reference number | 84002223 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | E.C. Chandler |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Present use is a nursing home; the building is recorded as unaltered and not moved. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 41.91862, -71.13208 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
National Register listing is honorary for a privately owned home: it does not by itself restrict what an owner may do with their own money, and it does not require public access. Restrictions come from local landmark or historic-district ordinances, which are separate (how they differ).
Owner-occupied houses are not eligible for the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit, which applies to income-producing buildings, but many states offer credits for homeowners. Listing also opens the door to preservation easements and to buying a plaque. Start with what listing means for homeowners, renovating a listed house and selling one.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 84002223.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7688779
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.