The H.F. Barrows Manufacturing Company Building, now the North Attleborough Police Station, is a historic industrial building in
North Attleborough, Massachusetts
North Attleborough, alternatively spelled North Attleboro, is a town in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 30,834 at the 2020 United States Census.
The villages of Attleboro Falls and North Attleborough Center are ...
. The elegant brick building was built in 1905–06, and was home for many years to one of the town's most successful jewelry businesses. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 2001. Today the building serves as the headquarters for the North Attleborough Police Department.
Description and history
The former Barrows factory is located at the northeast corner of South Washington Street and Chestnut Street, at the southern end of North Attleborough's downtown area. It is a two-story brick structure with granite trim, a clock tower placed prominently at the street corner, and single-story wings extending along the two streets, giving the building an overall L shape. The tower is set at an angle at the corner, and houses the main building entrance in a deeply-recessed round arch open vestibule. First-floor windows are generally set in recessed round-arch panels, while the second-floor windows of the central block are grouped in threes under extended granite lintels. The roofline is demarcated by brick corbelling on all parts of the building, a detail echoed in upper parts of the tower. The square tower has a Seth Thomas clock with four faces, and is capped by a pyramidal roof.
The town of
Attleborough
Attleborough is a market town and civil parish located on the A11 between Norwich and Thetford in Norfolk, England. The parish is in the district of Breckland and has an area of .
The 2001 Census recorded the town as having a population of 9 ...
(from which North Attleborough was set off in 1887) has a history of jewelry manufacture dating to the late 18th century. The H.F. Barrows Company was founded in 1854 in Attleborough Falls by Henry Francis Barrows, Sr. The firm passed to his sons Henry, Jr. and Ira, who had this building erected in 1905–06. The firm was widely known for its gold chains, but it successfully diversified when watches with chains fell out of fashion after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The company, no longer a private family business, moved to larger quarters in
Lincoln, Rhode Island
Lincoln is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 22,529 at the 2020 census. Lincoln is located in northeastern Rhode Island, north of Providence. Lincoln is part of the Providence metropolitan statistical are ...
in 1999.
[ The city purchased the building in 2000, and converted it for use as its main police station.
]
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in Bristol County, Massachusetts
References
External links
North Attleboro Police Department website
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Industrial buildings completed in 1900
Police stations in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Bristol County, Massachusetts