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District 7 School, photograph from the federal nomination
District 7 School, photograph from the federal nomination

Photographs from the nomination case file, National Park Service records.

District 7 School

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. 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

“I have no recollections of Groton that would not probably be far better recollected by mfiny who are now living there, and have kept their memory fresh by passing places associated with interesting events, and by hearing over and over again a recital of the otherwise fading scraps of history." "Leaving the State at sixteen, I had only a boy's interest in passing events. Chaplin had grown old, and as the art of dentistry was not then perfected, old people often were very slow and measured in speech, and we boys were in the habit of doing some thinking between the Doctor's utterances, until we were forced to sleep by being compelled to sit still ; and hence when John Todd came, with his sparkling thoughts and earnest gestures, we children became his followers.”

Groton Historical Series. A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts (1887). Machine-read text.

one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 2008 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Middlesex County.

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss, 2 objectss, 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. Chicopee Row, Groton, 01450
  • When was it listed? 2008-01-29
  • Category. building
  • Township. Groton town
  • National Register reference number. 07001487 - 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 ground it stands on

135,058 words

The chapter on Groton Town in Groton Historical Series. A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts, published 1887 names Groton. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

A Register of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Groton, 1664-1693, and of Marriages, 1713-1793, as Copied from the Middlesex County Records ; also a List of Marriages sent to the Town Clerk of Groton, under Chapter LXXXIV Section 4, of the Acts of 1857, and some from other Sources ; with an Appendix.

Passage source: Groton Historical Series. A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts, published 1887.

My dear Sir, - To one so familiar with the history of Groton, in all its departments and records, from the foundation of the town, I am aware that no slipshod reminiscences of my short visit to that place so long ago, can be of much interest or of any use ; and without the pen of Sir Walter or the mallet and chisel of Old Mortality to scrape off the moss and to restore the inscriptions in the churchyard of my memory, any attempt will be in vain.

Passage source: Groton Historical Series. A Collection of Papers Relating to the History of the Town of Groton, Massachusetts, published 1887.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Groton Town - 135,058 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

41 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 41 fires within 5 miles of District 7 School between 2015 and 2020, burning about 31 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were 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 burning25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Arson/incendiarism2
Equipment and vehicle use1
Smoking1
Recreation and ceremony1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
26 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 July 2016Recreation and ceremony1.3 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlANDOVER
26 June 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
11 June 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
10 June 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
7 May 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 383 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 383 specimens collected within 10 miles of District 7 School between 1898 and 1975: 241 Animalia, 62 Protozoa, 42 Plantae, 31 Fungi, 4 Unrecorded, 3 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. C. Gibson, A. F. Newton, A. F. Newton, M. K. Thayer 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.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Exosporium pusillum, not of this specimenExosporium pusillum P.Karst.1898King C. A.Stony Brook
Araiospora pulchra Thaxt.1900Thaxter, R.Stony Brook
A photograph of the species Cenchrus spinifex, not of this specimenCenchrus spinifex Cav.1900C. H. KnowltonN Chelmsford.
A photograph of the species Pholiota carbonaria, not of this specimenPholiota carbonaria (Fr.) Singer1900H. WebsterGroton.
unnamed1926F.A. Gilbert
A photograph of the species Anavitrinella pampinaria, not of this specimenAnavitrinella pampinaria (Guenée, 1857)1926not recordedLunenburg
A photograph of the species Arcyria cinerea, not of this specimenArcyria cinerea (Bull.) Pers., 18011926Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Alopecurus aequalis, not of this specimenAlopecurus aequalis Sobol.1930M. L. Fernald; C. A. Weatherby
A photograph of the species Cistothorus stellaris, not of this specimenCistothorus stellaris (J.F.Naumann, 1823)1930Collector(s): James Lee PetersHarvard
A photograph of the species Colaptes auratus, not of this specimenColaptes auratus luteus Bangs, 18981930Collector(s): James Lee PetersHarvard
A photograph of the species Epitheca cynosura, not of this specimenEpitheca cynosura (Say, 1840)1930Davis, E. M.MA, Middlesex Co., Shirley
A photograph of the species Hemaris thysbe, not of this specimenHemaris thysbe Fabricius, 17751930not recordedLunenburg

All 383 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of District 7 School: 8 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Black PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
J L Construction CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Pepperell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Seven Oaks PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Seven Oaks Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Sharon Contracting TcSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Tacey PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Tenney Street PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this property

18 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Groton, the town this property stands in, in 18 storm reports between 1995 and 2023: 13 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 2 flash 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2016Thunderstorm WindGroton$10,000Several trees were downed onto Riverbend Road.
September 2016Thunderstorm WindGroton$10,000Trees and wires on Jenkins Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindGroton$10,000Trees and power lines on Lowell Road were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2008Thunderstorm WindGroton$10,000Two utility poles and their wires were downed by thunderstorm winds, causing power outages.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindGroton$10,000no account filed
September 2016Thunderstorm WindGroton$5,000A tree was downed onto power lines by thunderstorm winds.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindGroton$1,300In Groton, a large tree was down on Farmers Row and power lines were down on West Street.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindGroton$1,000In Pepperell, a large tree was down at River and Elm Street.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindGroton$500In Groton, a tree was down on Chicopee Row. Trees and wires were down near Hollis Street.
March 2012HailGroton-Penny to quarter size hail fell in a swath from Groton to Shirley.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindGroton-Trees and wires were downed, which blocked Route 119 for a time.
July 2007HailGroton-Quarter size hail.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindGroton-Four inch diameter limbs were reported down.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindGroton-no account filed
July 1997HailGroton-no account filed
October 1996Flash FloodWest Groton-no account filed
October 1996Flash FloodWest Groton-no account filed
October 1995Thunderstorm WindGroton-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Middlesex County

Map coverage status

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

8,477 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. 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.

Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Middlesex, MA County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE EDUCATION COMMUNITY PLANNING and DEVELOPMENT Period of Significance 1833-1957 Significant Dates 1833 - CONSTRUCTION 1893 - INTERIOR MODIFICATIONS 1916 - END OF USE AS SCHOOL ignificant Perso omplete if Criterion B is marked abov n/a Cultural Affiliation n/a Architect/Builder Peter Nutting, builder 9.

The whole case file for this property - 8,477 words, 28 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 07001487, 28 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Bennett--Shattuck House0.9 miles2006
Groton Inn2.0 miles1976
Boutwell, Gov. George S., House2.0 miles2005
First Parish Church of Groton2.0 miles2021
Groton High School2.1 miles2010
Wright Cemetery4.4 miles2005

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 07001487 in Record Group 79.
Middlesex CountyAll 1100 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • 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.