The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a total of 192 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) within its borders. This is the second highest statewide total in the United States after New York, which has more than 250. Of the Massachusetts NHLs, 57 are in the state capital of Boston, and are listed separately. Ten of the remaining 134 designations were made when the NHL program was formally inaugurated on October 9, 1960; the most recent were in 2021. Cambridge is the city with the most NHLs outside Boston (at 19), and Middlesex County is home to 43 NHLs (again outside the 58 from Boston, which comprise all but two of the NHLs in Suffolk County). Every county in the state has at least one NHL (Franklin County has exactly one, the Old Deerfield Historic District).
The state's NHLs were chosen for a diversity of reasons. Some of the nation's oldest surviving structures are included: a number of 17th-century houses are listed, including the Fairbanks House (late 1630s) of Dedham, which is the oldest timber-frame house in the nation. The Old Ship Church (1681) of Hingham is the nation's oldest church still used for religious purposes, and Cole's Hill in Plymouth was used in 1620 as a burial ground for the Plymouth Colony. The Nauset Archeological District documents early contact between Europeans and Native Americans, and the Old Deerfield Historic District encompasses a well-preserved colonial frontier village.
Scientific and academic pursuits are represented in the list. Homes of mathematicians, scientists, and researchers appear on the list, as do sites noted for the events that took place there. The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory in Milton is home to the nation's longest continuous weather record, and the Goddard Rocket Launching Site in Auburn was where rocketry pioneer Robert H. Goddard performed some of his tests.
This schooner is one of the last surviving Gloucester-based Grand Banks fishing schooners, and one of only two surviving "knockabout" fishing schooners.[7]
This 1910 Georgian Revival building houses the American Antiquarian Society, the third oldest (1812) historical society in the United States and the first to be national in scope.[9]
This 18th-century farmhouse was the home of author Herman Melville (1819–91) during his most productive years from 1850 to 1863. He wrote several novels here, including Moby-Dick, as well as short stories, magazine stories and poetry. The house is now a museum.[10]
This 19th century duplex was the home of educator Maria Louise Baldwin (1856–1922), the first female African-American principal of a school in New England.[11][12]
Seminal interior designer and decorator Henry Davis Sleeper (1878–1934) used this Shingle-style as a showcase of his work. It is owned by Historic New England and operated as a museum.[13][14]
Described as "principal structure associated with the history of weather observation" in the United States, this observatory is home to the oldest continuous weather record in North America, and is where numerous meteorological measurement and analysis techniques were developed.[17]
This house, whose early construction dates to the late 17th century, has remained little changed since the early 18th century. It is now a house museum operated by Historic New England.[18]
This building housed the eponymous company, founded in 1813 by businessman Francis Cabot Lowell, engineer Paul Moody, and others, for the manufacture of cotton textiles. At this site the manufacture of textiles under a single roof was proved, a major success leading to the American Industrial Revolution.[19]
This Federalist house was the home of Nathaniel Bowditch (1773–1838), the founder of modern (19th century) navigation.[20] It now serves as the headquarters of Historic Salem, Inc.[21]
This property, in addition to the reservoir, includes the end gatehouse of the Cochituate Aqueduct, and an elaborately-decorated distribution gatehouse that includes one of the earliest known uses of wrought iron for staircases.
Located on Thacher Island, this light station was established in 1771, and was the last founded in the colonial era. The two lighthouses were the first to mark a navigational hazard (Thacher Island); the current lighthouses were constructed in 1861, and are aligned on a north-south axis.[26]
This circa 1683 house was home to Reverend Joseph Capen, Topsfield's minister for many years. It is one of the best preserved 17th-century houses in the United States.[27] It is operated by the Topsfield Historical Society as a house museum.[28]
This early 20th-century country estate is one of the finest of its type. The house was designed by architect David Adler of Chicago, and the landscaping was done by the Olmsted Brothers firm, among others. The estate is owned by The Trustees of Reservations, and is open to the public.[29]
This church, designed by architect Peter Harrison and completed in 1761, served Cambridge Anglicans. Despite numerous alterations, the church has retained much its original 18th century character.[30]
This saltbox house, built in 1686, is the oldest surviving residential structure on Nantucket. It is now owned by the Nantucket Historical Association, which operates it as a house museum.[31]
Cole's Hill is the site of the burial ground of the Pilgrims. Those who died in the first winter of the Plymouth Colony (1620–21) were buried there.[32]
From 1844 to 1930 this building was used as part of Crane and Company's paper manufacturing process, and is one of the nation's oldest surviving paper manufacturing buildings; it now houses Crane's museum. Crane has since 1879 been the exclusive supplier of paper for United States paper currency.[34]
One of five public libraries designed by H. H. Richardson, he considered it to be one of his best designs. The building incorporates stained glass by John LaFarge and sculptural elements by Augustus Saint-Gaudens.[35]
This site was the home and farm of Paul Cuffee (1759–1817), a wealthy colonial-era African-American merchant. Cuffee was a leading advocate for minority rights in Massachusetts, and a promoter and funder of the resettlement of African-Americans to present-day Sierra Leone.[36]
This fine Federalist house was the home of diplomat and United States Attorney GeneralCaleb Cushing (1800–79). Cushing is known for negotiating the 1844 Treaty of Wanghia, the first treaty between the United States and Qing China, and other diplomatic successes. The house now serves as the headquarters of the local historical society.[37]
This is a rare example of an 18th-century American garden house. Designed in the 1790s by Samuel McIntire, it resided on the estate of Salem merchant Elias Hasket Derby until 1901, when it was moved to the Endicott family's Glen Magna Farms country estate. The estate, now owned by the Danvers Historical Society, is open to the public.[41][42]
This house was home of the reclusive poetEmily Dickinson (1830–86) for most of her life. The house is now owned by Amherst College and is operated as a house museum.[43][44]
This site contains all that remains of the childhood home of African American intellectual and activist W.E.B. Du Bois (1868–1963). The property, which belonged to his family for over 200 years, is seasonally open to the public.[45][46]
This 1760s Georgian house and estate was home to three historically important individuals: Massachusetts colonial Lieutenant Governor Thomas Oliver (who had the house built), Massachusetts Governor and US Vice President Elbridge Gerry, and poet James Russell Lowell, who gave the property its name. It now serves as the home of the Harvard University president.[47][48]
Ernestina is the oldest surviving Grand Banks fishing schooner, and the only surviving 19th century fishing schooner built in Gloucester. Owned by the state and under the overall aegis of the New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, she is in 2012 sidelined from her intended educational purpose by budget constraints and the need for repairs.[50][51]
Continuously owned by a single family since its construction in the late 1630s, this is probably the oldest timber-frame house in North America. It is now operated by Fairbanks Family in America, Inc., as a house museum.[52]
Reginald Fessenden (1866–1932) was an inventor who worked for a time in Thomas Edison's workshop. His most notable inventions made possible the transmission of audio sounds via radio waves, and included many other radio-related innovations. This house was his last home; he was described in memoriam as "the greatest wireless inventor of the age".[53]
One of the finest churches designed by architect Charles Bulfinch, this building was constructed in 1816 and is occupied by a congregation whose history dates to 1653.[54][55]
This carousel, one of two extant examples of the work of the Charles F. W. Dare Company, is the oldest operating platform carousel in the nation, and may be the oldest of any type (the Flying Horse Carousel of Watch Hill, Rhode Island, also built by the Dare Company, is possibly older).[56]
Designed by Isaiah Rogers, this 1833 Greek Revival house was built by ship captain and China Trade merchant Robert Bennet Forbes and his siblings for their mother. Furnished and decorated with acquisitions Forbes made in China, it is now a house museum.[57][58]
John Glover (1732–97) had this simple frame house built in 1762, and occupied until 1782.[68] Glover, a wealthy Marblehead merchant, was an important military figure in the American Revolutionary War, leading the Marblehead Regiment early in the war as well as leading early efforts to establish the Continental Navy.[69]
This site, located on a local golf course, is where rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in 1926.[70] The actual launch site is marked by a granite obelisk.[71]
A remnant of an estate that was once much larger, Gore Place preserves an excellent Federalist mansion built in 1806 for Christopher Gore, a Massachusetts governor and United States senator. The mansion was saved from destruction in 1935, and is now open to the public as a house museum.[72]
This Italianate house, also known as "Hillside", was the home of orator John B. Gough (1817–86), a leading figure of the 19th century temperance movement. The estate, owned by the town of Boylston, is undergoing a lengthy restoration and conservation process.[73][74]
Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius designed this house in 1937 as a personal expression of Modernism, living in it until his death in 1969. Owned by Historic New England and operated as a house museum, it contains the most important collection of Bauhaus artifacts outside Germany.[76][77]
Named for Federalist Party leader Alexander Hamilton, this 1805 building was designed by Samuel McIntire to serve Salem's Federalist Party activities. It has been described as "one of the most outstanding Federal-era public buildings" in the nation.[79]
This 1737 house was the boyhood home of Revolutionary leader John Hancock, and was where he and Samuel Adams hid from British authorities at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War.[80] It is now owned by the Lexington Historical Society, and is seasonally open to the public.[81]
This Shaker village was established in 1791 and lasted until 1960, after which it became a living history museum. It is noted for its distinctive round barn, built in 1826.[82][83]
This Greek Revival house was built in 1844 as the home of Cambridge businessman Oliver Hastings (1791–1879). Although nearby resident Charles Sanders Peirce considered it "ugly", the building is recognized for its elegant curved bays and elaborate wrought iron balcony railings.[84][85]
Best known for its association with Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel of the same name, this 1668 house was also a key early preservation effort, successfully restored in the early 20th century by historian and preservationist Joseph Everett Chandler. The district, which includes several other historical buildings, has been operated ever since as a history museum.[88]
Jacob's Pillow was founded in 1931 by Ted Shawn as a place to develop an all-male dance company. It has since trained generations of dance professionals of all types, and continues to stage productions every summer.[89]
Jeremiah Lee was the wealthiest merchant in Massachusetts in the 1760s, when he had this Georgian mansion built. The mansion is in a remarkable state of preservation, and is operated by the local historical society as a house museum.[95]
This well-preserved 18th-century house was the birthplace and lifelong home of Revolutionary War General and Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Benjamin Lincoln (1733–1810). The house, which is not open to the public, remains in Lincoln family hands.[98]
This unremarkable 1917 office building was the site of the nation's first successful independent consulting laboratory, Arthur D. Little. The company pioneered the idea of commercial laboratories as independent, profit-making businesses.[100]
Henry Cabot Lodge (1850–1924) was a lifelong resident of this house. Lodge, as United States Senator from Massachusetts, was a critical voice in foreign policy debates of the early 20th century; he supported a wider role for the United States on the world stage, but led the opposition to ratification of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I.[101]
Lowell was the nation's first major industrialized city. Its system of canals and waterworks was constructed between 1794 and 1848. Most of these were built to power the large number of industries that sprang up in Lowell during the early years of the American Industrial Revolution, and remain in remarkable condition despite their age.[103]
Founded in 1793, this boatshop has been in continuous business ever since; it is where founder Simeon Lowell developed the stackable dory. The present buildings date from the 1860s.[104]
The Luna, built in 1930, is the last surviving full-sized wooden ship-docking tug on the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States. She was the world's first diesel-electric tugboat built for commercial service, and was a showpiece for Thomas Alva Edison's General Electric Corporation. In October 2015 she was docked in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
This building, now housing administrative offices and a freshman dormitory, is the oldest surviving building (1718–20) on the campus of Harvard University, and the second oldest academic building in the nation.[106][107]
George R. Minot (1885–1950) was awarded a Nobel Prize for his work finding a treatment for pernicious anemia, then a fatal disease. This 1920s suburban house was his home from 1929 until his death.[109]
Designed by writer Edith Wharton (1862–1937) and built in 1902, The Mount is where she wrote the bestselling novel The House of Mirth. It is now a house museum.[111][112]
In an effort spearheaded by Dr. Jacob Bigelow, Mount Auburn Cemetery was laid out by Henry A. S. Dearborn in 1831 as "America's first garden cemetery". In addition to being the burial place of many famous Bostonians, it is known for its horticulture and as a birdwatching destination.[113]
This listing, which encompasses the entire island of Nantucket, was made in recognition of Nantucket's well-preserved historical settlements (dating to the 17th century), and its importance as the world's preeminent whaling center in the early years of the 19th century.[114]
This district, located within the southern portion of the Cape Cod National Seashore, encompasses sites containing substantial ancient settlements dating to at least 4,000 BC. Some of these sites were described in the chronicles of early European explorers.[116]
This Greek Revival courthouse was built in 1827 and expanded over the 19th century. It was site of the controversial Sacco-Vanzetti trial in 1921, and has changed little since then.[118]
This well-preserved 18th century colonial village was the site of numerous Indian raids, including a famous and well-documented attack in 1704.[119] The village is administered by Historic Deerfield as a museum.[120]
This Puritan meetinghouse was constructed in 1681 and is claimed to be the oldest church in the nation still used for religious services.[122] Its name derives from its construction, which resembles an inverted wooden ship hull.[123]
This 1824 house was home to the father of writer Horatio Alger (1832–99). Alger, a prolific and popular writer of juvenile fiction, frequently summered here.[128]
Now embedded within the Peabody Essex Museum, the East India Marine Hall was built in the 1820s. The museum traces its lineage to the 1799 East India Marine Society, claiming to be the nation's oldest continuously operating museum.[129]
This transitional Georgian/Federal style home was built in 1782 for merchant Jerathmiel Peirce by Samuel McIntire.[130] The house is owned by the Peabody Essex Museum, which offers tours.[131]
This 1872 Second Empire house was the residence of Lydia Pinkham, whose homemade herbal remedy for dysmenorrhea was one of the bestselling such medical products of the late 19th century thanks to Pinkham's use of her own image as a marketing tool. Orders and other correspondence were received at the house's Western Avenue address; sometimes Pinkham wrote back personally, a practice continued by her company after her death.[132]
This house was built in 1686 as an early home of the Quincy family. Its well-preserved construction documents 300 years of architectural changes. The building was an early success in house preservation early in the 20th century, and is now a house museum.[137][138]
This house, built c. 1770, was occupied by a succession of politically active Quincys, and contains architectural details unique among houses from the period. It is owned by Historic New England, who offer infrequent tours during the summer months.[139][140]
Revere Beach was the first oceanside beach purchased for public access (in 1895). Architect Charles Eliot was responsible for the design and layout of the beach's roadways and facilities. Managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the reservation continues to provide public recreation facilities.[143][144]
Theodore William Richards (1868–1928) was considered the foremost experimental chemist of his time. He won the Nobel prize for his role in determine the atomic weights of many elements. This house was built in 1900 with design input from Richards, and he lived there until his death.[145]
This early Gothic Revival cottage was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1845 for William J. Rotch (1819–1893), scion of New Bedford's leading whaling family. It exhibits features not found in other surviving similar works by Davis, and received wide public notice after its construction. The cottage is a private residence and is not open to the public.[146]
This house was the first design of Richard Upjohn, a leading architect of the 19th century. He designed this Greek Revival home for William Rotch Jr. (1759–1850), the leading whaling businessman of the time. Later residents of the house were also leading New Bedford figures. The property is now a house museum.[147]
This c. 1692 house was extensively expanded in the 18th century by merchant and slaveowner Isaac Royall Jr. It was occupied by John Stark during the 1775–76 Siege of Boston. A well-preserved Georgian house that is now a museum.[148][149]
Inventor and scientist Benjamin Thompson (1753–1814) was born in this well-preserved 1714 house. Thompson was lauded in Europe for his discoveries (including key advances in the field of thermodynamics); he received honors including the title Count Rumford. The house is now a museum.[150]
This mature work of H. H. Richardson is a classroom building. Richardson sought to integrate contemporary ideas of architecture into Harvard's largely Georgian campus.[152]
This house is a rare example of a 17th-century stone house in New England. Relatively unchanged despite additions over the centuries, it is now owned by Historic New England, who operate the site as a farm and museum.[153][154]
Until 1968 this site was a part of the nation's first armories and weapons production facilities, and a major military research facility. It was a focal point of the 1787 Shays' Rebellion, a local uprising against oppressive state fiscal policies.[155]
This house, whose construction date is uncertain but believed to be in the mid-to-late 17th century, is quite possibly the oldest brick house in North America. It was probably built by Peter Tufts (1628–1702), an early settler of Medford.[159] It is owned by the Medford Historical Society, which seasonally offers tours.[160]
Now more commonly called the Lyman Estate, this was the country estate of Boston merchant Theodore Lyman. Built in 1793, it includes one of the nation's oldest greenhouses, and has survived with most of its landscaping intact. It is open to the public.[164][165]
Now part of a state reservation, Henry David Thoreau's cabin was located here. The time Thoreau spent here was inspiration for his conservationist treatise Walden.[166]
Construction was begun on this house in 1684, with owner John Ward making several modifications to it prior to his death. The building, now owned by the Peabody Essex Museum, stands as a fine example of the organic growth of early colonial houses.[167]
Wesleyan Grove is a Methodistcamp meeting established in 1835. Its grounds, which are open to the public, feature a large number of Victorian era gingerbread cottages. As one of the earliest camps of this type, its features were influential in the development of other permanent camp meeting facilities.[171]
This was the first public library building designed by H. H. Richardson; it was built between 1876 and 1879. It still houses Woburn's public library.[175]
^Numbers represent an alphabetical ordering by significant words. Various colorings, defined here, differentiate National Historic Landmarks and historic districts from other NRHP buildings, structures, sites or objects.
^The eight-digit number below each date is the number assigned to each location in the National Register Information System database, which can be viewed by clicking the number.
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