Orange Center 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 the historic civic, commercial, and industrial heart of

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. It was listed on 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 1989.

Description and history

The area that is now the center of Orange was settled around 1785, when a bridge was built across the

Millers River The Millers River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 river in northern Massachusetts, originating in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, Ashburnham and joining ...

, which flows through it in a westerly direction toward the

Connecticut River The Connecticut River is the longest river in the New England region of the United States, flowing roughly southward for through four states. It rises 300 yards (270 m) south of the U.S. border with Quebec, Canada, and discharges into Long Isl ...

. The town grew in the first half of the 19th century as an industrial area, and its growth increased substantially with the arrival of the railroad in 1846. It became widely known in the second half of the 19th century for the manufacture of

sewing machine Diagram of a modern sewing machine Animation of a modern sewing machine as it stitches A sewing machine is a machine used to sew fabric and materials together with thread. Sewing machines were invented during the first Industrial Revolutio ...

s. The town's economy declined during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, and has been at a lower ebb since then. The historic district is roughly linear, extending north–south along North and South Main Streets from School Street in the north to River Street on the south side of the Miller River. It extends for a short distance along East and West Main Streets. Included in its roughly are 37 historically significant buildings, most of which are commercial brick or wood-frame buildings in a variety of styles. Also included are the town hall (built 1868), two churches, railroad-related infrastructure including a surviving freight house. At the northern end of North Main Street are a few period residences, including an ornate Italianate French House that now serves as the home to the local historical society. The Grand Army of the Republic Hall was torn down in the early 1990s. The district was the site of several industrial companies, including: * Grout Automobile Company (1900-1912) * New Home Sewing Machine Company * Rodney Hunt Company (founded 1840) * Chase Turbine company * a modern box factory and a shoe factory (1887) * Leavitt Machine Company (1890) * Whitman Grocery Company (1894) which made Tapioca * two tool plants, (1903 and 1908)

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Geography of Franklin County, Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Massachusetts Orange, Massachusetts

Description and history

See also

References