Photographs from the nomination case file, National Park Service records.
Dutton--Holden Homestead
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
2001. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
From the record
“US, to prevent our plantation from breaking up or brealiing in peicess, after all that charge we have been at, And hazards that we have run, to keep our ground hitherto & not broke wliolly in piecess. We still asert, as we did before, our case is Honest.”
History of Billerica, Massachusetts, with a Genealogical Register (1883). Machine-read text.
one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 2001 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Middlesex County.
National Register reference number.01000307- the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
What happened here
An account from the chapter on Billerica town, The inset identifies its exact
source book and publication year.
14. Josiah, son of Josiali. 5, b. 1704, Aug. 5; m. 1729-30, Feb. 3, Elizabetli French, dau. of William, 7. She d. 1739, Nov. 27. He d. before 1743. Killed by the Indians says tradition. Ch. Josiah. b. 3730, Nov. 24. He was in the military service in 1747, on the C-onnecticut river, and narrowly escaped with his life by swimming the river from the anibusead(» in which French.
For encouragement and aid in tlie work, thanks are due to friends more nuraei'ous than I can mention. Many, not named, are not forgotten, if I refer to a few, whom it Avere unpardonable to omit. The kindness and cooperation of each member of the Historical Committee have been constant and unstinted, and I record it here most gratefully ; while to Mr. Foster and his good wife (whose recent death makes their pleasant home desolate) , I am specially indebted for the lists of town officers, and for the useful alphabetical copy, made by thein, of the Baptisms found in the records of the First Church. Mr. Franklin .Taquith copied the inscriptions in the South BurjMng Ground, and those in the Old Corner Burj'ing Ground were as kindly copied by Mrs. Holt. Mr. Jaquith also prepared with great care the list of soldiers from Billerlca in the late war. Dr. C. E. Hosmer rendered important aid in preparing the Map of Ancient Billerica. The use of valuable surveys and papers has been generously granted by Mrs. Samuel Sage, Mr. Leander Crosbj% Mr. Merton Simonds, of Bedford, Peter E. Vose, Esq., of Dennysville, Me., and the Rev. Henry M. Dexter, D. D., of New Bedford. Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Cutler, of Bedford, have most kindly given me every opportunity to use the invaluable Lane Papers in their possession. The Hon. Samuel A. Green, M. D., Mayor of Boston, has not only given free access to the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, but, by constant and valuable suggestions, aided me very materiallj'^ ; and Mr. John Ward Dean, of the New England Historic, Genealogical Society, has been not less helpful. The Congregational Library, rich in local history and genealogy, has been always at mj^ service, while to IMiss Mary E. Stone, its assistant lil)rarian, especial thanks are due, for invaluable aid, most cheerfully rendered, in reading proof of nian^y of these pages. In n)y researches among the Massachusetts Archives in the Secretarj' of State's office, the aid of Dr. Edward Strong has been of great service ; and thanks are due to Mr. David Pulsifer, of the same office. Others, who should be named in the same spirit, are, Mrs. Bennett and Mr. W. W. AVarren, Dr. Augustus Whiting, of Charlestown, Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Faulkner, Mr. C. H. Hill, Mr. E. J. Hill and Dr. F. V. Noj^es ; and the volume might have an appropriate dedication to the memory of Cai)t. Charles A. Kanlett, to whose historic interest much was due in the inception of the enterjti-ise.
Indian deeds, 123; sale, of Wamesit, 124; the Winthrops seek lo recover, 125; military company, 125; Canada expedition; Dunstable assailed; Lt. Wilson at Cocheco, 126; Billerica's first massacre, 127; second massacre, 129 ; Mrs. Toothaker, 130 ; militai-y life and trials, 132 ; Hunt's garrison, 134 ; Col. John Lane, 135 ; Queen Anne's war, 136 ; soldiers from Billerica, 137 ; Dunstable attacked, 140 ; Lovewell's expedition, 141 ; Louisburg, 142 ; service on Connecticut river, 143 ; sad day for Billerica, 143 ; Josiah Crosby, 144 ; French and Indian war, 145 ; soldiers from Billerica, 147 ; the French neutrals, 151.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Dutton--Holden Homestead between
2008 and 2020, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson.
Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted
here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
Reported cause
Fires
Debris and open burning
32
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
17
Recreation and ceremony
4
Railroad operations and maintenance
2
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
Equipment and vehicle use
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 589 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Dutton--Holden Homestead between 1898 and
1975: 274 Plantae, 223 Animalia, 79 Fungi, 6 Unrecorded, 4 Protozoa, 3 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. B. Seymour & M. D. Feigley, A. C. Mathieson and others. Each is a
physical object with a catalogue
number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was
collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be
concluded from a species being absent.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Billerica, the town this property stands in, in 24 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 11 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail, 3 heavy rain, 3 flood.
No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office
filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date
opens the federal record of that event.
At 4:10 PM EST, media reported that the Concord River in Billerica had risen above its banks. At 6:34 PM EST, flooding was reported on Elsie Avenue in Billerica from the Concord River.
No historic map-sheet match is published
for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs
a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.
Browse the county's mapped places while that work is
pending.
From the nomination file
10,067 words on record
When this property was proposed for the
National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is,
and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain.
It is quoted below word for word, never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the
occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s
typewriter's.
Statement of significance
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.) XA Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. _B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. XC Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. _D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Property is: _A owned by religious institution or used for religious purposes. _ B removed from its original location. _ C a birthplace or grave. _ D a cemetery. _ E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. _F a commemorative property. _G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years. Middlesex, M/ iounty and Stat Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT Period of Significance ca.
1750 - 1951 Significant Dates 1765 (Davis purchase) 1785 (Soley purchase) 1802 (Holden purchase) Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder unknown Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) 9.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 01000307, 46 pages, held by the National Archives in Record
Group 79. See the
catalogue record.
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 miles
Other National Register properties close
enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both
positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties
to their map sheets.
Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.