Crawford, Elias, House
Why it's listed
Three Norwood Street in Worcester holds a two-storey frame house of octagonal plan, built between about 1851 and 1860. A service wing extends from its south and west sides, and an open porch with chamfered wooden posts and brackets wraps the first storey. A hipped roof with open eaves and pendant brackets covers the building, and the windows are irregularly placed. Later changes include double front doors and some stained glass. A nineteenth-century stable, possibly original, stands to the southwest. The house is one of only two octagonal houses in Worcester. An 1870 city atlas names Elias B. Crawford, a cotton and later woolen manufacturer, as owner, though the house was probably built for an earlier, unidentified owner. From the 1880s until 1932 it was the home of Charles Johnson, a local attorney. Its rare form and its place in the city's mid-nineteenth-century housing led to its inclusion in Worcester's historic resource survey.
Significance in brief: The form describes it as one of only two octagonal houses in Worcester, built before 1860 in the "Octagonal Mode." It is also tied to Elias B. Crawford, a cotton and later woolen manufacturer, and later to attorney Charles Johnson, who lived there from the 1880s until 1932.
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 80000552, listed March 5, 1980. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 3 Norwood St., Worcester |
|---|---|
| County | Worcester County |
| Listed | March 5, 1980 |
| Reference number | 80000552 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architectural style | "Octagonal Mode" |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | State, Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Listed as a residence in the 1977 inventory; original use and present use are both residential. |
| Acreage | 0.3 |
| Coordinates | 42.25289, -71.81873 (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 80000552.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5360475
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.