The Central Square Historic District is a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

encompassing much of the central business district of

Stoneham, Massachusetts Stoneham ( ) is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, north of downtown Boston. Its population was 23,244 at the 2020 census. Its proximity to major highways and public transportation offers convenient access to Boston and ...

. It includes the town's largest concentration of 19th and early-20th century commercial architecture, in an area that developed in importance as a commercial center after the construction of the

Andover Andover may refer to: Places Australia *Andover, Tasmania Canada * Andover Parish, New Brunswick * Perth-Andover, New Brunswick United Kingdom * Andover, Hampshire, England ** RAF Andover, a former Royal Air Force station United States * Andov ...

- Medford Turnpike (now Main Street, designated

Massachusetts Route 28 Route 28 is a nominally south–north state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, running from the town of Eastham, Massachusetts, Eastham via Boston, Massachusetts, Boston to the New Hampshire state line in Methuen, Massachusetts, M ...

). The district was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1990.

Description and history

The town of Stoneham is located north of the city of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, and is now predominantly a commuter suburb. In the mid-19th century the town developed as a major center of shoemaking in the area, and was served by the

Boston and Lowell Railroad The Boston and Lowell Railroad was a railroad that operated in Massachusetts in the United States. It was one of the first railroads in North America and the first major one in the state. The line later operated as part of the Boston and Maine R ...

and the turnpike heading north to

. The shoemaking enterprises began as small-scale enterprises, which gradually became centralized into larger operations. One factory remains from this period, the large 1858 Italianate building at 426 Main Street, which was built by John Hill and was the town's first major industrial building. The triangular junction of Main Street and Center Street became the commercial hub of the town, its character defined by three Second Empire buildings erected between 1868 and 1890: the Dow Block, the Oddfellows Building, and the Chase Block. The southern end of the district is anchored by the Hill factory building and the 1904 Stoneham Public Library, just across Main Street. Just north of the square stand other municipal buildings, including the 1918 Central Firestation, and town hall, built in 1939 on the east side of Center Street. North of these buildings are a cluster of churches, marking the northern edge of the district at Common Street. These include the First Congregational Church (1840) and the First Unitarian Church (1869).

References

{{Stoneham, Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Georgian architecture in Massachusetts Neoclassical architecture in Massachusetts Victorian architecture in Massachusetts Stoneham, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Stoneham, Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References