Photographs from the nomination case file, National Park Service records.
Gowing--Sheldon Historic District
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
2003. 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
“In compliance with the foregoing, the inhabitants of the new town erected their first meetinghouse in 1732. Tlie chureh was organized with seventeen male members, October 24, 1733, and Mr.”
History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1880). Machine-read text.
one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 2003 · category: District · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Middlesex County.
National Register reference number.03001176- 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.
The surface of Wilmington is not remarkably level, but presents several level plains which pleasantly contrast with some hills of prominence and bi'aiity. And tlie placid Silver Lake should not he passed liy. The stranger who visits it in summer cannot fail to admire its natural beauty. It is situated in the northwest part of the town, and contains some tliirty-five acres. The character of the soil is not very generally celebrated for its productions; yet a large portion will well reward judii-ious rulti\ation.
To tills territory was added a narrow strip of land lying on the westerly side of Reading, which was also early open to settlement. The names given to particular localities as earlv as 1()5S are still retaine.l. - as Coslieii, Xod, .Maple-meadow Brook, Lebanon, an,IJ.a(lder-l'ole. The two last are extcaisive cedar swamps which still maintain their early signilii'ai ion and value. JIaplc-meadow Brook is the main blanch of Ipswich River, wliich takes its rise iu Burlington, and after entering Wilmington takes a northeasterly course for about five miles, when it enters A'orth Reading. There are also li\c brooks whose waters flow into this one from the west side; four of which each operate a mill for a portion of the year.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 30 fires within 5 miles of Gowing--Sheldon Historic District between
2003 and 2020, burning about 16 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
12
Debris and open burning
11
Recreation and ceremony
2
Arson/incendiarism
1
Power generation/transmission/distribution
1
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
Equipment and vehicle use
1
Railroad operations and maintenance
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 828 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Gowing--Sheldon Historic District between 1898 and
1975: 358 Animalia, 336 Plantae, 116 Fungi, 8 Bacteria, 6 Unrecorded, 3 Protozoa, 1 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, A B. Proper, A. E. Feldman 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 federal mineral resources record lists
16 workings within 5 miles of Gowing--Sheldon Historic District: 8 past producers, 4 producers, 3 plants, 1 unknown.
7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Titanium, Iron. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Wilmington, the town this property stands in, in 22 storm reports between 1996 and 2022: 9 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 4 lightning, 3 flash flood.
The reports record 1 injury. 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.
Several trees across Wilmington were downed by thunderstorm winds. This includes a tree down on a house on Lawrence Street and a tree down across the railroad tracks.
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
4,419 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.) X A Propertv is associated with events that have made a signiticant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. _ B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. X C 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, Massachusetts County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING Period of Significance ca.
1809 - 1953 Significant Dates Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) Cultural Affiliation Architect/Builder 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 03001176, 21 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.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.
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