FORM B − BUILDING
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Photograph
See continuation sheets
Assessor’s Number
USGS Quad
Area(s)
Shrewsbury
Form Number
NBO.44
Town Northborough
Place (neighborhood or village)
Address 264 Church Street
Historic Name West School
Uses: Present Single family residential
Original School
Date of Construction c. 1846
Source Kent
Style/Form Greek Revival
Architect/Builder Unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation Stone
Wall/Trim Brick/Stone
Topographic or Assessor's Map
Roof Asphalt Shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures
Garage
Major Alterations (with dates)
Condition Good
Moved
X no ___ yes
Date
Acreage .39 acres
Setting Located in a residential neighborhood at the corner
of Church and Brewer Street.
Recorded by Pauline Chase-Harrell
Organization: Boston Affiliates, Inc.
Date (month / year) October 2007
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION
see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
The small Greek Revival brick house at 264 Crawford Street is one story, two bays wide, four bays deep, and originally the west
school of Northborough. The most original of the surviving schools, this structure has two entrances, one on the east and west
side facades. Both have transoms above with stone lintels. The west side entrance has a series of steps leading up to the door.
The windows are a combination of 6/6 and 9/9 double hung with stone lintels and sills and the foundation is stone. To the
northwest of the house lies a small vinyl sided one-car garage. This building, one of two remaining Northborough schoolhouses,
is an excellent example of the small brick schoolhouses as it is retains a high level of integrity in form and materials.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
see continuation sheet
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the
owners/occupants played within the community.
This building was one of several very similar district school buildings, all one-story gabled brick structures with flat stone lintels
and entrances at the ends of the long walls, built in Northborough in the 1830s and 1840s, when the town was growing rapidly.
This was the third location and fourth structure for the west district, built ca.1846-47 and serving until 1908. It replaced a
building built in 1837 on the same site, which burned. That building had replaced one built in 1795 on another site, which in turn
replaced the earliest school for the west district, built in the early 1780s, after the original designation of the four school districts
in 1770. The West School was converted to residential use after many years of standing vacant.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
see continuation sheet
Hopkins, G. M., Map of the Town of Northboro, Worcester County, Mass, 1855.
Kent, Josiah Coleman. Northborough History. Newton, Mass.: Garden City Press, 1921.
Map Plate 5, Part of the Town of Northborough, Part of the Town of Shrewsbury, 1898.
Massachusetts Historical Commission. Reconnaissance Survey Report: Northborough, 1983.
Mulligan, William H., Jr. Northborough During the American Revolution. Northborough: Northborough American Revolution
Bicentennial Commission, 1975.
Valentine, Gill, Map of Northborough, Worcester County, Mass, 1830.
Worcester County Atlas, page 68: Northborough; page 70, Northboro Centre, 1870.
Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
NORTHBOROUGH
264 Church Street
Area(s)
Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
NBO.44
PHOTOGRAPHS
Continuation sheet 1
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
Community
NORTHBOROUGH
Property Address
264 CHURCH STREET
Area(s)
Form No.
NBO.44
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
Individually eligible
Eligible only in a historic district
Contributing to a potential historic district
Criteria:
A
Criteria Considerations:
B
C
A
Potential historic district
D
B
C
D
E
F
G
Statement of Significance byPauline Chase-Harrell_________________
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
264 Church Street, the West School possesses integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association and appears to
meet Criteria A and C for listing on the National Register at the local level, individually and as a contributing element to a thematic Historic
Schools district in Northborough.
Under Criterion A, the West School is significant for its associations with Northborough’s long history of concern for providing education for
all of its children with district schools. This was the third location and fourth structure for the west district, built ca 1846-47 and serving until
1908. It replaced a building built in 1837 on the same site, which burned. That had replaced one built in 1795 on another site, which in turn
replaced the earliest school for the west district, built in the early 1780s, after the original designation of the four school districts in 1770.
The West School was converted to residential use after many years of standing vacant.
Under Criterion C, The West School is a typical and well-preserved example of architecture in Northborough in the 19th century, and a rare
survival of a mid-19th century brick school building. This building was one of several very similar district school buildings, all one-story
gabled brick structures with flat stone lintels and entrances at the ends of the long walls, built in Northborough in the 1830s and 1840s, when
the town was growing rapidly, and when brick yards were an important local industry.
Continuation sheet 1