Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007. 19 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.
From the record
“The Wellesley Hills Branch Library is a historic library building at 210 Washington Street in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The stone building was designed in 1927 by Hampton F.”
Wikipedia article Wellesley Hills Branch Library, CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 342 National Register listings published here for Norfolk County · listed in 2007 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.07000546- 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 history of the town of Wellesley is necessarily brief, as the town was incorporated so late as April 6, 1881. It was until that time, from 1711, a part of the town of Needham, and previous to that time its territory was included within the limits of the town of Dedham.
Freedom in religious matters did not, however, entirely satisfy the inhabitants of the westerly part of the town, as very early efforts were made to obtain separate political rights. A strenuous effort was made in 1801, another in 1820, and other later and well-remembered attempts have been made at short intervals. In 1880 an appeal was made, with almost absolute unanimity, by the inhabitants of the west side, now grown to be a large and wealthy community, to the Legislature, and with so great force of reason and argument that the petition was granted, and the town was incorporated and named Wellesley.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 113 fires within 5 miles of Wellesley Hills Branch Library
between 2015 and 2020, burning about 82 acres in total. 1 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
Recreation and ceremony
56
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
36
Debris and open burning
12
Power generation/transmission/distribution
3
Smoking
3
Misuse of fire by a minor
1
Other causes
1
Natural
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 13,313 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Wellesley Hills Branch Library between 1805 and 1975: 5,505 Animalia, 3,786 Fungi, 3,584 Plantae, 192 Protozoa, 168 Chromista, 46 Unrecorded, 32 Bacteria.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by ?, ? ex Herb. W.G. Farlow, A C Gibson 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
11 workings within 5 miles of Wellesley Hills Branch Library: 8 past producers, 2 producers, 1 plant.
3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Stone, Tantalum. 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
Wellesley, the town this property stands in, in 17 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 10 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 heavy rain, 1 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.
Trees and branches on Dewing Path, Route 16, Brooke Street, Leighton Road, and Weston Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. One of the trees fell onto a house and another broke a utility pole.
A tree on Route 135 East near Wellesley College was downed by thunderstorm winds. Another tree on Chatham Circle and power lines on Howe Street also were downed by thunderstorm winds.
United States Geological Survey topographic
sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then
testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
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 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. 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 50years.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Nortolk, Massachusetts County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) Architecture Education Social History Period of Significance 1927-1957 Significant Dates 1927-28 construction of Wellesley Hills Branch Library Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder Shirer, Hampton F. Hannaford, R. H. (continued) 2.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 07000546, 42 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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