Major Bibliographical References 1. Haywood, W.S., History of Westminster. Lowell, 1893. 2. Holmes, Clay w., Ceneaology of the Descendants of William Wood. Elmira, N.Y., 1901. 3. Massachusetts Historical Commission Historic and Archaeological Resources of Central Massachusetts. Boston, 1985. 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property ~ Quadrangle name - Gardner Quadrangle scale 1: 25,000 UT M References A L119/ |2/512/31615 Zone 147 h1/650 Easting Northing LiliLu Zone Easting Northing -L LIL LLIL FLU LLILI LILILL HLJ LLILL LILILLL ELI HILU LULL GLLLILLILILL Verbal boundary description and justification See assessor's map List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county code 11.
Form Prepared By Betsy Friedberg, Preservation Planner, Massachusetts Historical Commission name/title with Kristine Haney, Westminster:Historical Commission organization Massachusetts Historical Commission date November, 1986 street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone 617- 727-8470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: _ national _ state X 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 National-Park Service.
State Hiatoric Proservation Oicer signature ppa-R.es Deputy itte State Historic Preservation Officer date 1/16/87 For NPS use only I hereby certify that this property is included in the National Register date Keaper of the National Register Attest: date NPS Form 10-900-8 (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Ahijah Wood House Continuation sheet Westminster, Massachusetts Item number 10 OMB NO. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 FOE NPS UNE Beeives date entered Page 1 Verbal Boundary Justification The present property is over seventy-three acres, in a very irregular lot, which includes wetlands and wooded areas as well as pastures and lawn.
Because the historic significance of the entire acreage has not been established, only the first 650 feet of the property running backfrom Worcester Road is being nominated at present. This includes the house and two noncontributing outbuildings, as well as thirty feet of lawn fronting the nouse and, to the rear, a 600-foot-deep open area, now fenced as a cow see assessor's map. Ahijah Wood House FIRST FLoOR SECOND FLOOC 2 737.4c.
9 Acres AHIJAH WOOD HOUSE 174 Worcester Road Westminister, MA PROPERTY MAA TOWNOFYWESTMINSTER WORCESTEA COUNTI MASSACHUSERTS Westminster Property Map Scale: 1" = 500' WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) 81000374 Critera B UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET ofefDebEive Rovtet Wood, Ahijah, House Worcester County MASS A CHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Substantive Review: J sample Drequest Reviewer's comments: see the following technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below Jappeal FEB 2 1987 Working No. Fed. Reg. Date: Date Due: 3/6/82- 3/19/87 Action: -_ ACCEPT _ LRETURN_ 3-12-87 - REJECT. Federal Agency:.
XNR decision Recom./Criteria letura Reviewer - Discipline _ Date_ apeaucettstry - see continuation sheet Nomination returned for: 1. Name. 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? 7. Description Condition J excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed yes Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection Status Accessible Present Use no Check one unaltered altered Check one J original site moved date 8.
Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph completeness clarity Yapplicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other the end of hist AsOC. io/tanly Criterion A , ratker thau B, appears to be alluded Peease clarify the period of significance applicalile uiterion A unda asricultae 1 cormammt Dcomea a darlamz, Y93290T0: 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification accordengly. 11. Form Prepared By 12.
State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national _ state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature date title 13. Other -Maps Photographs -Other Signed Latuck Anduus _ Doro _3|17/87 _ Phone: _ Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet GPO 918-450 NPS Form 10-900 (3-82) OMB No. 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form See instructions in How to Complete National Register Forms Type all entries - complete applicable sections 1. Name For NPS use only received AUG date entered 6 1987 SEP | 7 1987 historic Ahijah Wood House and or common Same 2. Location street & number 174 Worcester Road N/Anot for publication city, town Westminster N/Avicinity of state Massachusett s 3.
Classification Category Ownership district public X building(s) X private . structure .both site Public Acquisition object .in process N/A being considered code 025 Worcester 027 county code Status - occupied unoccupied work in progress Accessible *-yes: restricted - yes: unrestricted Present Use agriculture commercial educational entertainment government _ industrial military _ museum -park - private residence - religious . scientific transportation _ other: 4. Owner of Property name Michael and Brenda Murphy street & number 1 Balmont Road, # 122 city, town West Harwich N/A vicinity of 5. Location of Legal Description state Massachusetts 02671 courthouse, registry of deeds, etc. Fitchburg Registry of Deeds street & number P.O. Box 983 city, town Fitchburg 6.
Representation in Existing Surveys Invencory of che Hitoric Assets of Inventory # 61 title the Cononwealth of Massachusetts has this property been determined eligible? state Massachusetts 01420 yes no date 19/6 federal X state - county local depository for survey records **v. town Boston Massachusetts Historical Commision, 80 boylston Street Massachusetts state 7. Description Ahijah Wood House, Westminster, Massachusetts Condition x excellent good fair Check one . deteriorated ruins unexposed .unaltered X altered Check one originalsite moved date (see text) Describefthepresent and original (if known) physical appearance The Ahijah Wood House, Westminster, is located in a rural setting on the western side of Worcester Road (Route 140), about a mile south of Westminster's center and a quarter mild north of the entrance to Wachusett Mounta in State Reservation.
above a dry-laid stone retaining wall. Built of brick laid in Flemish bond, it rises 2 1/2 stories above a fieldstone foundation and brick watertable to a steep-pitched double hipped roof. The house has a double-pile plan and is five bays wide with a central entry; two chimeys are located just behind the second hip's ridge. The roofing material is asphalt. Also on the property are two noncontributing buildings constructed in the late 20th century: to the northwest of the house, a three-car garage; and to the south, a large barn built on the site of a 19th century barn. The house is located at the foot of a hill (maximum elevation of the property is 1,150 feet) on a large lot that is for the most part heavily wooded. The house is set back about 30 feet from the road, and is fronted by a lawn. To the rear is a fenced cow pasture.
The Nathan Wood House, located a short distance north on Worcester Road, is not visible from the Ahijah Wood House. The main,eastfacade is symmetrical,with two ranks of closely spaced bays flanbking the entryway. The entry is approached by several granite steps. Fenestration consists of 6/6 sash here as throughout the building. On the first story, both the windows and the doorway are enhanced by five-light transoms set beneath wood-frame segmental arches. Shallow brick relieving arches further define the openings. An early 20th century photograph reveals that the transoms are not original; at one time, brick arches only enframed the windows. The doorway's frame is otherwise simple vertical boards. second-story window openings are capped by a simple flat 1intel and set flush with the narrow,lightly molded, wood cornice. The north facade is two bays deep.
Fenestration, again 6/6, repeats the main facade's first story elaboration of five-light transoms on the first story nith wood-frame and brick segmental arches above, and, on the second story, flat 1intel-topped sash are again flush with the cornice. The south facade is similar,with the addition of a centrally located door on the first floor. The door is believed to date from the mid 19th century. continued NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) - United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Ahijah Wood House Continuation sheet Westminster, Massachusetts Item number OMB NO Expirei 1024-0018 10-31-87 Far NPS usa (rh recaived date anterec 7 Page 1 The rear, west facade contains four bays asymmetrically arranged. On the first story, two bays, one containing an early door, are masked by a modern screened porch.
The other two windows contain modern sash. The second story contains four sash windows asymmetrically arrayed. The house retains its original Federal plan, double pile with a central hall and straight flight of stairs. The two front rooms on both first and second floor contained corner fireplaces at one time, although only those in the south-facing rooms survive. Among the interior finishes remaining are elaborately molded panel ing in many of the rooms, including, between the two north-facing rooms on the second floor, a folding, molded partition. The house has undergone several changes. Alterations to the window framing some time in the early 20th century have already been described. In addition, few if any of the sash and window lights are original. The northern chimney was removed at some time in the 19th century (at which time the northern fireplaces were removed).
The present chimney, added within the last decade, is nonfunctioning and purely decorative. A two-story wooden ell, its exact appearance unknown but said to be a "Beverly jog" not unlike others found in Westminster, was taken down within the past. fifty years. Archaeology There is a potential for significant historical archaeological remains on the property. Controlled survey and testing may assist in documenting the history of alteration to the house, for example the location of and dimensions of the two-story ell, as well as the location of barns' shops' and other outbuildings. Occupation related features (privies, trash pits, wells) are 1ikely to exist around the house. Sampl ing and analysis of these features can provide a more detailed view of the changing social, cultural, and economic patterns that characterized this prosperous, upland farmstead dur ing the 19th century.
Furthermore, while lying beyond the immediate vicinity of the house, and thus outside the bounds of this nomination, the rear portion of the 74 acre wood property includes landscape features whose steeply descending contours at the edge of a wetland area suggest that an earthen dam may at one time have been present. 8. Significance Ahijah Wood House, Westminster, Massachusetts Period prehistoric 1400-1499 1500-1599 16001699 X .1700-1799 * 1800-1899 1900 (ca 1795-1902) Areas of Significance - Check and justify below -. archeology-prehistoric -- community planning archeology-historic conservation X agriculture economics X architecture education art engineering commerce - exploration/settlement communications industry invention -. landscape architecture. law literature military music philosophy - politics/government Specific dates ca.
1795 Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect Unk nown The Ahijah Wood House, a fine, vernacular Federal-period residence with an unusual double-hipped roof, retains integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association. Built ca. 1795, the house is architecturallly significant for its well-preserved Federal styling and historically significant for its associations with one of Westminster's most prominent local families, the Woods, who owned it until 1902. The Ahijah Wood House thus fulfils Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places on the local level. The town of Westminster, known initially as Narragansett #2, was one of seven townships designated in 1733 as part of a land grant made in 1728 by the General Court; this grant fulfilled a commitment made in 1685 to veterans of King Philip's War and their survivors.
Located just north of Wachusett Mounta in in north-central Massachusetts, Westminster received its first European settlers in 1737. In 1739, six acres were set aside on a hill north of Wachusett Mountain, in the southeast section of the township, for a mee tinghouse, burying ground, and training field. Located near 156-acre Meetinghouse Pond, the area, the present Academy Hill Common, formed the center of the new village. (The remaining core of the original village settlement was nominated to the National Register in 1983 as the Academy Hill Historic District.) Settlement proceeded slowly despite the inducements of a $40 bounty and construction of a gristmill (1741) to lure families. By 1750, only thirty-two families had erected houses and cleared their mandated three acres on lots of sixty acres each.
It was not until after 1750, when the Legislature ordered meetings of proprietors to be held in the township and decisionswere rendered allowing public improvements (especially highways) that new residents were retained. A poor agrarian community, Narragansett #2 was incorporated as Westminster in 1759. In April 1770, the town was granted representation in the Legislature. By the eve of the Revolution, Westminster had grown to a population of some 1,150 people. Five schools had been built in the township. By the beginning of the Federal period, a second meetinghouse in the village center prompted the construction of several high-style residences atop Meetinghouse Hill.
1800, the construction of the 5th Massachusetts Turnpike 1inking Greenfield, Mass., and Brattleboro, Vermont, with Albany and Boston was established north of the meetinghouse core, prompting the development of a new commercial South of the village core and Meetinghouse Pond, Westminster remained predominantly un improved woodlots (79% in 1784) or, less commonly, agricultural land (about 18% in the same year was pasturage,mowed, or tilled). continued . religion science sculpture social/ humanitarian theater transportation - other (specify) community development 9. Major Bibliographical References 1. Haywood, W.S., History of Westminster. Lowell, 1893 3. Masses, ceatslistorical forot sto Deiseodic an chengtcatesuiras ctra Massachusetts. Bosion, 1985. 10. Geographical Data 7 Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name Gardner Quadrangle scale .
I:25,000 UT M References L12/612/310151417/1111950 Zone Easting Northing CLULLILL LULLL ELULLILIL LILIL GLULLILLL LLILLL I L, LuL LIILL Easting Northing -LULLILLI LILILL FLILLILL LILILLL HLULLILIULILILLLI Verbal boundary description and justification see assessor's map List all states and counties for properties overlapping state or county boundaries state N/A code county code state code county 11. Form Prepared By Betsy Friedberg, Preservation Planner, Massachusetts Historical Comnission name/tite With Kristine Haney, Westminster Historical Conmission code organization Massachusetts Historical Conmission date November, 1986 street & number 80 Boylston Street telephone (617) 727-3470 city or town Boston state Massachusetts 12.
State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national -_ state Iocal 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 National Park Service.
State Historic Preservation Ofticer signature Vallue A | demaçe Deputy title lassachusetts Historical Comnissto State Historic Preservation Officer date 7 30 81 1/16/87 For NPS use only areby certify that this property is included in the National Register atuikA ndeus Keeper of the National Register Altod: Betht Savage Chiot of Regietrátion GPO 911-399 date 91787 date 9/17/87 NPS Form 10-900-8 (3-82) - OMB NO- 1024-001 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form Ahijah Wood House Continuation sheet Westminster, Massachusetts Item number aRNPS UED orty recaived date enterec 8 Page 1 Among the improved early trails was today's Worcester Road, which became a major route joining Lancaster and Athol to the west and east with Worcester to the south.
It ran north of Meetinghouse Hill and then turned south to travel between Meetinghouse Pond and Wyman Pond. The nominated property was built ca. 1795 by Ahijah Wood (1754-1840), second son of Nathan Wood, who was among Westminster's original proprietors. The latter's Georgian-style residence is located close by on Worcester Road and is was a farmer who had been one of the first Westminster residents to enlist in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was present at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Ahijah's farm is known to have held cows, swine, and horses..A woodworking shop may also have been present on the property. addition to farming, Ahijah served his community first as assessor and then as a member of the Board of Selectmen. Both posts had been held by his father before him.
The presence of late 18th/early 19th century folding panelling on the second story suggests that these two rooms may have served as a ballroom or function room dur ing Ahijah Wood's ownership of the property, but this hypothesis is unsubstantiated. The second owner of the property was Ahijah's son Aaron (1791-1840). An ardent abolitionist, he was an officer in the Northern Worcester County Anti-Slavery Organization and together with his relation, Ezra Wood, was chosen to represent Westminster at the annual meeting of the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society in Boston shortly before his death in 1840. Aaron was also a supporter of the temperance movement. He was chairman of the first Board of Selectmen to be chosen on a temperance platform. In addition, he served as deacon of the First Congregational Church.
Late in his lite, Aaron shared ownership of the nominated property with his son, Theodore (1838-1902), who would inherit it upon his father's death. Theodore expanded the farm's generally subsistence enterprises to a large-scale operation: he kept a sizable herd of thoroughbred and graded Jersey cows, and supplied the Boston markets with milk and cream. property was then known as Maplewood Farm, and was considered by many a model of successful agricultural practices. Like other members of the family before him, Theodore served as town assessor and. selectman, as well as being a member of the School Committee. After Theodore Wood's death in 1902, the property was sold to Frank Murdock (1867-1929), also a farmer. From him, the property passed to a son, Warren Murdock (b. 1903), an employee of the westminster Cracker Company (whose bakery survives within the Academy Hill Historic District).
With Warren's continued NPS Form 10-900-8 (3-82) - OMB No: 1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Ahijah Wood House Continuation sheet Westminster Item number For NPS use only rBBiVec date antered 8 Page assumption of the property, it ceased to function as a farm. In 1975, however, it was purchased by beef and chicken producer Michael Murphy. The property has recently changed hands once again and its immediate future is uncer ta in. The impos ing Ahijah Wood House reflects the prominence and prosperity of its owners for three generations, the Woods. The house is architecturally significant as a handsome example of a vernacular Federal-style country dwell ing.
While its brick construction was not unique for Westminster at that time (the Timothy Hoar House at 115 East Road, built ca. 1790, is a particularly fine brick five-bay, hip-roofed residence), the prominently sited brick Wood house boasts the only double-hipped roof in Westminster. Further south on Westminster Road, the Isaac Williams House (ca. 1801) is another nip-roofed five-bay residence distinguished by its use of brick tront and rear wae Wahtafs Housedon East Road and may havee been the soaree for the brick A brickyard is believed to have been located near used in all three buildings.
NPS Form 10-900-a (3-82) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form Ahi jah Wood House Continuation sheet Westminster, Massachusetts Item number 10 OMB NO.1024-0018 Expires 10-31-87 For NPS una oniy recBived date entered 1 Page Verbal Boundary Justification The present property is over seventy-three acres, in a very irregular lot, which includes wetlands and wooded areas as well as pastures and Tawn. Because the historic significance of the entire acreage has not been established, only the first 650 feet of the property running back from Worcester Road is being nominated at present. This includes the house and two noncontributing outbuildings, as well as thirty feet of lawn fronting the house and, See the reor, a 600-foot-deep open area, now fenced as a cow , aser 2/251 05C 500 100 73.7 AC. 12,50° 7.
Acres AHIJAH WOOD HOUSE 174 Worcester Road Westminister, MA PS71 PROPERTY MAP TOWN OF WESTMINSTER WORCESTER COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS Westminster Property Map #3 Scale: 1"' = 500' Ahijah Wood House Fiesr rode SECONO PILODE 2/(r) RESUBMISSION WASO Form - 177 ("R" June 1984) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET Ietacentive Hovten Wood, Ahijah, House Worcester County MASSACHUSETTS resubmission nomination by person or local government owner objection appeal Working No._ 2-2-87/ Fed. Reg. Date: 2/2/88 Date Due:_ 9-20-87 Action:_KACCEPT 9=/2-87 __RETURN REJECT - Federal Agency: . INR decision Substantive Review: -sample Jrequest appeal Reviewer's comments: Jine veinacer Neheral-puriod residence assoriated i) one of towin's ne srona wh rere menilyes, ourrership for over a centunf.
Nomination returned for: - technical corrections cited below _substantive reasons discussed below Acept AtC Reviewer1 orgim igenefual Histery Date - 1. Name 2. Location 3. Classification Category Ownership Public Acquisition Status Accessible Present Use 4. Owner of Property 5. Location of Legal Description 6. Representation in Existing Surveys Has this property been determined eligible? yes no 7. Description Condition JJ excellent good fair deteriorated ruins unexposed Check one J unaltered altered Check one -original site moved date _ Describe the present and original (if known) physical appearance summary paragraph completeness clarity alterations/integrity dates boundary selection 8.
Significance Period Areas of Significance-Check and justify below Specific dates Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) Builder/Architect J summary paragraph completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other 9. Major Bibliographical References 10. Geographical Data Acreage of nominated property Quadrangle name UTM References Verbal boundary description and justification 11. Form Prepared By 12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification The evaluated significance of this property within the state is: national state local State Historic Preservation Officer signature title date 13.
Other Maps L Photographs - Other Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to _ Signed -Date - Phone: - GPO 918-450 Comments for any item may be continued on an attached sheet EBDOn Ahijah Wood House 175 Worcester Rd Westminster, MA 01473 photo: K. Haney; 11/84 neg: 164 Worcester Rd 1 of 2: front view Ahijah Wood House 175 Worcester Rd Westminster, MA 01473 photo: K. Haney; 11/84 1 of 2; front angle view ChTAE YE LMNAO The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary of State Michael Joseph Connolly, Secretary Massachusetts Historical Commission Valerie A. Talmage Executive Director State Historic Preservation Officer July 29, 1987 Carol Shull, Keeper National Register of Historic Places Department of Interior National Park Service P.O. Box 37127 Washington, D.C. 20013-7127 Dear Ms.
Shull: Enclosed please find six nominations that were returned to the MHC for technical and substantive corrections. The following nominations are enclosed: Boston (Roxbury), Abbotsford, 300 Walnut Avenue Brockton, Brockton Edison Electric Illuminating Company Power Station Richmond, Nichols-Sterner House Westminster, Ahijah Wood House, 174 Worcester Road Westminster, Nathan Wood House, 164 Worcester Road Winchendon, Old Centre Historic District All corrections have been made. Sincerely, Betsy Betsy Friedberg Fredkerg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission Enclosures AUG 6 1987 80 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02116 (617) 727-8470
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