Nomination for Washburn, C.P., Grain Mill

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

FHR-8-300 (11-78) United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entriescomplete applicable sections 1. Name For HCRS use only received FEB 8 1980 date entered 8 historic C.P. Washburn Grain Mill a10n: " and/or common same 2. Location street & number Corner of Central and Cambridge Street not for publication city, town Middleboro vicinity of congressional district 10th state Massachusetts códe 025* 3.

Classification Category Ownership district - public X building(s) X private _ structure both site Public Acquisition _ object - in process .being considered "county Plymouth code 023 Status X occupied _ unoccupied X work in progress Accessible X yes: restricted - yes: unrestricted _ no Present Use X agriculture x commercial _ educational entertainment - government x industrial military museum park private residence religious scientific transportation other: 4. Owner of Property name John Washburn and C.P. Washburn, III street & number Center Street city, town Middleboro - vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Plymouth County Registry of Deeds street & number Russell Street city, town Plymouth 6.

Representation in Existing Surveys Inventory of the Historic Assets titleof the Commonwealth has this property been determined elegible? state Massachusetts -yesX no date January 1978 federal X state - county - - local depository for survey records Massachusetts Historical Commission city, town Boston state Mass. 7. Description Condition _ excellent - good X fair _ deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one unaltered X altered Check one _ original site _moved date Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance

Description of the property

The C.P. Washburn Grain Mill stands at the northwest corner of Cambridge and Center Streets, adjoining the former Old Colony Railroad line. The Grain Mill occupies a Grain Mill (1902) an office (1904) and a re-inforced concrete wing (1918). The Grain Mill and two sheds on the west elevation are set on a rubble foundation and are covered with clapboard. The Grain Mill, itself is three stories high with a pitched roof above which rises a square-plan elevator penthouse covered with shingles and enclosed by a hip roof. The two sheds which flank the Grain Mill are each one-story high and are enclosed by low-pitched shed roofs. The Grain Mill's east elevation contains a concrete loading platform and shed roof supported by wooden braces and iron tension rods, at the first story.

Set beneath this root, on the main body of the bullding, are an eight-panel sliding door flanked by two tripartite windows! "Each tripartite window contains a tall 6/6 window flanked by two smaller 6/6 windows. The east elevation of the south shed is concealed by the office addition, while that of the north shed contains a sliding panelled door and Andersen window. In addition, the north shed contains an angled wall, correspond- ing to the angle of Center Street; this wall is blank except for one Andersen window. Above the first story, the Grain Mill's east elevation 1s blank except for one 0/6 window set in the peak of the gable. The Grain Mill's south elevation is entirely concealed at the basement and first story. the mill's wall is blank and is painted with à sign bearing the words "C.P. Washburn Above the first Grain Mill"!

Above the eaves at the southwest corner is a'shed dormer with paired 6/1 sash. 21 0a0a C ME3E0 EX The Grain Mill's north elevation is blocked by the north shed at the first story; the shed elevation is blank." Above the first story the, Grain Mill's north elevation is identical to its south elevation, except that it is unpainted. The west elevation of the Grain Mill and two sheds is designed to present à nearly symmetrical facade, of which the Grain Mill, itself, forms the center. At the basement level is a center sliding door flanked by four 6/6 windows and two additional sliding doors, located at the shed's northwest and southwest corners. Al1 sliding doors are made up of vertical boarding. At the first story is a center 6/6 window, flanked by three windows to the south and two windows to the north.

Projecting out over the center window is a shed roof which shelters the loading bay at the basement level. Both sheds stop at the first story, above which the Grain Mill rises an additional two and one-half stories to a gable. Fenestration of the upper floors consists of two 6/6 windows, one at the second story, the other centered in the gable. The office'addition (1904) is a one-and-one-half story wooden structure located at:the south- east corner of the Grain Mill. This addition rests on a rubble foundation and is enclosed sr ia ch a shad dormot nea e by a low-pitched roof with a shed dormer near its southeast corner. Only the north and east elevations of the office addition are exposed; both have been altered extensively by the addition of vertical boarding and modern windows. The west elevation, also altered, is partially exposed at its upper floor.

The reinforced concrete addition of 1918 stands south of the Grain Mill, adjoining the south shed (1901). The 1918 addition is two-stories high; its exterior is made up of bays (continued) FHR-8-300A (11/78) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR HERITAGE CONSERVATION AND RECREATION SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM FOR HCRS USEONLY RECEIVED FEB 8 1980 DATE ENTERED CONTINUATION SHEET ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE1 of equal size, framed by concrete piers. At present, this addition has been altered by the concrete blocking of bays and by the deterioration of its concrete. The Grain Mill's interior retains its original plan and much of its original equipment, some of which has been stored onthe premises following its replacement by newer equipment.

Contained in the building is a shallow foundation with frequently placed stone piers which support the weight of grain brought into the basement story from the railroad platform. The basement retains a grain cleaner, bucket-chain elevator and a more recently made grain mixer. The first story (street leve1) contains cast-iron grain chutes from the bins above, and trap doors to the basement. The first story has additional wood braces and steel beams to support the weight of grain stored on the upper floors. The second and third stories contain 14 bins of timber-cribbed construction built of long leaf, yellow pine planks (2" X 4") which have been bound together with spikes. The fourth (attic) story contains a grain separator of screw conveyors and trap doors which open into the grain bins.

Located in the elevator penthouse is a turnhead as well as chutes which cross down into the fourth floor.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Significance Period - prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1899 1900- Areas of SignificanceCheck and justify below - archeology-prehistoric - community planning archeology-historic _ conservation - agriculture _ economics architecture education art Lengineering commerce exploration/settlement_ communications industry invention landscape architecture - law literature - military - musIc - philosophy - politics/government - religion _ science _ sculpture _ social/ humanitarian theater _transportation other (specify) Specific dates 1899, 1902, 1904 Builder

Statement of significance

/Architect C. P. Washburn Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) The C. P. Washburn Grain Mill possesses integrity of location, design, setting and materials and possesses historical associations with a locally important agricultural business. The Grain Mill and its two flanking sheds contain the only grain elevator of timber-crib construction of its period extant in Massachusetts and, perhaps, in New England. Although similar, small-scale grain elevators once existed throughout New England, including Acton, Bridgewater and Fitchburg, Massachusetts, the decline of local agriculture has led to the closure and demolition of most other examples. In addition to its structure, which remains essentially unaltered, the Grain Mill pre- serves a variety of original machinery which provides rare examples of turn-of-the- century industrial engineering.

Designed to serve as a country grain elevator, the Washburn Grain Mill was originally used to store, mix and distribute grain to farmers from Plymouth, Massachu- setts to Providence Rhode Island and as far away as Provincetown. Planned by Charles Parker Washburn, the mill was fully automated, making use of electricity and gravity as sources of power At Washburn's expense, a spur of the old Colony Railroad line was extended along the mill's west elevation. Grain entered the building through a loading platform in the basement where it was dumped into a pit from which a bucket elevator carried it up twenty-two feet to the first storey. At the first storey, grain was weighed and then dropped back to the basement where a cleaner winnowed it of debris.

A second bucket-chain elevator then lifted grain to the elevator penthouse where the grain entered a turnhead and was directed through chutes past screw conveyors into bins. Finally, as needed, grain was poured through chutes to the first storey where it was passed through attrition mills and packaged. Once packaged, grain was stored in the two sheds until its sale. At its peak during the 1950's, the Grain Mill received two freight-car loads of grain (2,000 bushels) daily. Corresponding to the decline of local agriculture, the volume of grain processed gradually declined to only 2,000 bushels weekly before the mill closed in December of 1974. Currently owned by members of the Washburn Family, the Washburn Grain Mill stands at the end of a 340-year long family business which began in 1634 when Sir John Washburn left England to build a mill in Duxbury, Massachusetts.

Subsequently, the family milling business was passed down through the generations to the present. Current plans call for the sympathetic conversion of the Grain Mill to use as a hardware supply store, a business which was established by the current owners after 1974.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

Major Bibliographical References Clark, Charles S. ed., Plans for Grain Elevators. Chicago; Grain Dealers Journal. 1913. Ketchum, Milo S., News Destishong ao1 1 Bins and Grain Elevators. New York; The Engineering Romaine, Mertie., The History of the Town of Middleboro. New Bedford; Reynolds-DeWart Printing Inc. 1969 10. Geographical Data UITM NOT VERIFIED Acreage of nominated property 21,000 sq. ft. Bridgewater Quadrangle name UMT References ACREAGE NOT VERIFtE ngle scale. 1:24000 Zone 340760 Easting 4 6 3 Rg/ Northing JLATAL Zone Easting Northing DLJ Lalad EL LlLul HLLLIL Verbal boundary description and justification Please refer to the boundaries delineated on the attached map. List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state code county code state code county code 11.

Form Prepared By name/title Brian Pfeiffer, Consultant with Lucia Stout Architectural Conservation Trust organizationMassachusetts Historical Commission date November 1979 street & number 294 Washington St. telephone (617): 727-8470 city or town Boston state Mass. 02108 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: _ national state local As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National. Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89 665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set forth by the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service.

State Historic Preservation.Officer signature / atuna Weslowski : 1/22/80 title Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission date For HCRS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register Ma Dang date 4/8/80 Keeper of the National Register Attest: Vatuck Andrus date 4/8/80 Chief of Registration GP O 938 835 C. P. Washburn Grainmill Cambridge and Center Streets Middleboro, Mass. Site Map C. P. WASHBURN( COMPANY MIDDLEBORO - SCALE 1:50° MASS STREET CENTER -. 6" W.F CAMBRIDGE LOADING PLATFORM 2 38 28 OFFICE 10 SHEOS STREET 6"W.P CFAiN MILL AS. RR RECEIVED 6 980* NATIONAL REGISTER AVEA CENTER b 2 1 TEPIALS =; A. HOUSE Property Haslbum, C.P Deain mill State Working Number Ma- 2-8-80 432 TECHNICAL Photos 5 Maps Ihes building is eligible for architectuue and agiiculture.

Built in 1f perrods (mill 1899; Ahedsi902; office 1904; concrete urng, 1918) this building is archilecturall 15- dan rel no 5000066r CONTROL mucho theoriginalmachinery remains. HISTORIAN accept Patrick Andrus 4/8/80 ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN ARCHEOLOGIST OTHER HAER Inventory - Review REVIEW UNIT CHIEF BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry 2.3.81 Send-back Re-submit Entered APR 8 1980 United States Department of the Interior - Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service MPET KIHI C.P.WASHBURN GRAIN Architectural Conservation Trust (ACT) For Massachusetts Old City Hall 45 School Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 C. P. Washburn Grain Mill Middleboro, Massachusetts Clinton C. Clark 1977 3B New Water Street, Middleboro, Massachusetts #1 of 5 Southwest Elevation APR 8 1980 Plipmonth co.

FEB 8 1980 Architectural Conservation Trust (ACT) For Massachusetts Old City Hall 45 School Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 8 Middleboro, Massachusetts Clinton C. 3B New Water Street, clark 1977 plymouth ca. Middleboro, Massachusetts #2 ol 5 Northeast Elevation FEB 8 1980 Architectural Conservation Trust (ACT) For Massachusetts Old City Hall 45 School Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 C. P. Washburn Grain Mill Middleboro, Massachusetts Clinton C. Clark 1977 3B New Water Street, Middleboro, Massachusetts #3 0f 5 Interior, Street Floor Grain Chutes from Bins plymoda co. FEB 8 1980 Architectural Conservation Trust (ACT) For Massachusetts Old City Hall 45 School Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 C. P. Washburn Grain Mill Middleboro, Massachusetts Clinton C.

Clark 1977 3 B New Water Street Middleboro, Massachusetts #4 Screw Conveyor ol5 and opening to bins Cribbed construction evident APR 8 1980 plipmoueh Ca. FEB 8 1980 Architectural Conservation Trust (ACT) For Massachusetts Old City Hall 45 School Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 C. P. Washburn Grain Mill Middleboro, Massachusetts Clinton C. Clark 1977 3 B New Water Street Middleboro, Massachusetts #5 Grain Cleaner and ol 5 Separator on Ground, Track F1oor FEB 8 1980 Plymouth co. MEETING REPORT OFFICE OF ARCHEOLOGY AND HISTORIC PRESERVATION PROJECT: C. P. Washburn Grain Mull - Plumouth county, MA. LOCATION OF MEETING: 112A DATE: 4/8/80 DIVISION: N.R. STAFF MEMBER: P. Anduus PARTICIPANT: ORGANIZATION: Donald Jackson- T.P.S.

PHONE: REPORT: he agrees with the claim that this type of constructin (timber ciib) is efatively are and that for its bite date f constuuction (for Mass.) this grain mill is important (epecially for the original machinerg that remains). ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MASSACHUSETTS Date Entered APR 8 1980 Name Location Washburn, C.P., Crain M111 Middleboro Plymouth County Also Notified Honorable Paul Isongas Honorable Edward M. Kennedy Honorable Margaret M. Heckler State Historic Preservation Officer Mrs. Patricia L. Weslowsk1 Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Conmission 294 Washington Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 NR 1 Eartner Infornation, please all the National xogieter at (202143-6401.