Clough, Benjamin F., House
Why it's listed
Set on a busy commercial street in Waltham, this house at 42-44 Prospect Street was apparently built around 1855 by Benjamin F. Clough, who came from Maine about 1853 and started a shoe-making business in a factory behind the house. The factory first made brogans, employed 60 people by 1857, and switched to men's, women's and children's shoes during the Civil War before closing in 1871. The house is a temple-front Greek Revival design, one of only four of its type left in the city. It keeps a two-story portico with fluted columns and Ionic capitals, corner returns, paneled corner boards, tall first-floor windows and original clapboard siding. Colonial Revival additions, likely made by the Barker family, include a Palladian-style gable window and an elliptical fanlight entrance. Though in only fair condition, it reflects the development of central Waltham as a neighborhood for workers and manufacturers.
Significance in brief: It is one of only four surviving temple-front Greek Revival houses in Waltham, with a two-story Ionic portico and later Colonial Revival details that harmonize with the original work. It also illustrates the mid-to-late 19th-century growth of the central Main Street area as a home for workers, small businessmen and factory owners.
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 89001536, listed September 28, 1989. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 42 Prospect St., Waltham |
|---|---|
| County | Middlesex County |
| Listed | September 28, 1989 |
| Reference number | 89001536 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Architect unknown; apparently built by Benjamin F. Clough |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival (temple-front), with Colonial Revival additions |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Condition fair; present use multi-family residential, originally residential. |
| Acreage | 0.1 |
| Coordinates | 42.37253, -71.24635 (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 89001536.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4888529
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.