Petersham Common Historic District

Petersham Common Historic District
First Congregational Parish, Unitarian
Location Main and Common Sts., Petersham, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°29′25″N 72°11′8″W / 42.49028°N 72.18556°W / 42.49028; -72.18556Coordinates: 42°29′25″N 72°11′8″W / 42.49028°N 72.18556°W / 42.49028; -72.18556
Area 47 acres (19 ha)
Architect Multiple
Architectural style Greek Revival, Late Victorian, Federal
NRHP reference # 82004481 [1]
Added to NRHP May 11, 1982

The Petersham Common Historic District encompasses the historic town center of Petersham, Massachusetts. Laid out in 1733 and centered on the town common bounded by Main and Common Streets, it retains most of its 19th-century character, with only a few turn-of-the-20th-century civic buildings adding later character. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1]

Description and history

Land in what is now Petersham was first granted to colonists in 1733, and the town was incorporated in 1754. Its town common was laid out in 1733, along with a series of house lots extending to the north and south, along what is now Main Street (Massachusetts Route 32). It is where the town's first meeting house was built, and it is where all of its town halls have been located. Since 1878, the common has been cared for by a village improvement society, and it has been the subject of a local historic district since 1967.[2]

The historic district is basically linear, extending along Main Street between New Salem Road in the south and North Street in the north. Most of its 45 buildings were built before 1850; only a few are from the 20th century, and two of those (the town hall and the Unitarian Church, are from the outside reproductions of 19th-century buildings. Most of the buildings are wood-frame structures one or two stories in height; there is one brick building, built in 1848 as a schoolhouse. Two late additions to the district were designed by architect Edmund Wilson: the stone public library was built in 1889-91 as a memorial to the town's Civil War soldiers, and the Shingle Style Hotel Nicheweay was built in 1899 as accommodations for summer visitors. Most of the other buildings in the district are Greek Revival. In addition to the common, other open space in the district includes the North Common Meadow, now a conservation property of The Trustees of Reservations.[2]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (2008-04-15). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "NRHP nomination for Petersham Common Historic District". National Archive. Retrieved 2017-10-06.
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