BlockFrom the record
One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 2018 · category: Building.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article
Fobes-O'Donnell House
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1887.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building, 1 object as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 1221 Turnpike Rd., Oakham, 01068
- When was it listed? 2018-03-09
- Category. building
- Town. Oakham town
- Architectural style. American colonial architecture
- National Register reference number. 100002197 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
The ground it stands on
10,154 wordsThe chapter on Oakham Town in History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889 names Oakham. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
The first settlement in Worcester County was made in what is now the town of Lancaster in 1043; but it was more than seventy years after that date before the settlers had reached the " mother town of Rutland" (of which Oakham was formerly a part), and one hundred and seven years before the tide of emigration had overflowed into what is now the town of Oakham.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
Oakham was the southwest corner of the "twelve miles square," and, previous to its incorporation, known as " Rutland West Wing." Its surface is uneven, and the soil is of great variety. The range of hills, extending from the northeast section, through the central and southwest portion, thence into New Braintree, possess a deep, heavy, clay soil, excellent for grass, fruit, corn and the smaller grains. While the gravelh' soil of the northwest part and the sandy plains of the eastern border produce excellent crops of potatoes and all kinds of grain. At the time of its first settlement the surface was covered with vast forests principally of oak and chestnut, while many other varieties of wood and timber, such as maple, birch, ash, hemlock, pine, poplar, etc., were found in greater or less abundance.
Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts : with Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men., published 1889.
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 Oakham Town - 10,154 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Fires near this property
50 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 50 fires within 5 miles of Fobes-O'Donnell House between 2015 and 2018, burning about 50 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 burning | 29 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 9 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 8 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Smoking | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 September 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 7 August 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | 2.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 August 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 August 2017 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 6 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 4 July 2016 | Recreation and ceremony | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 28 July 2016 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Specimens collected near this property
12 of 522 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 522 specimens collected within 10 miles of Fobes-O'Donnell House between 1839 and 1974: 219 Plantae, 217 Animalia, 84 Fungi, 2 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. C. V. Schott, A.B. Seymour, A.E. Daugherty and L. Babbitt 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 | Species | Year | Collected by | Where, as recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pooecetes gramineus gramineus (J.F.Gmelin, 1789) | 1900 | Roscoe I. Giles | |
 | Bartramia pomiformis Hedw. | 1839 | unknown | Barre |
 | Carex gracillima Schwein. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex intumescens Rudge | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex lacustris Willd. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Carex stipata Muhl. ex Willd. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Cirsium arvense (L.) Scop. | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
 | Cypripedium acaule Aiton | 1839 | M. S. Bebb | Barre |
| Nitella megacarpa (T.F.A.) R.D.W. | 1894 | G. E. Stern | Lake Lashaway | |
| Calyptospora goeppertiana J.G.Kühn | 1895 | not recorded | US, Massachusetts, Barre | |
| Vaccinium corymbosum L. | 1895 | not recorded | US, Massachusetts, Barre | |
| Calosoma calidum (Fabricius, 1775) | 1896 | Knab, Frederick (1865-1918) | Massachusetts |
All 522 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this property
7 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 7 workings within 5 miles of Fobes-O'Donnell House: 6 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barre Road Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Browns Trucking | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| E. J. Connors Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Highway Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Landfill Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Legion Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| R Curtis Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary |
Storms near this property
8 since 1997Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Oakham, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 hail. The reports record 4 injuries. 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1997 | Lightning | Oakham | 4 hurt | no account filed |
| September 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | $15,000 | Trees downed on multiple streets throughout Oakham. |
| July 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | $5,000 | Trees and wires on Scott Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | $1,000 | In Oakham, a large tree was down on North Brookfield Road. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | $800 | In Oakham, a tree and wires were down on Spencer Rd. |
| July 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | $800 | In Oakham, trees were down on wires on Lincoln Road. |
| May 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Oakham | - | In Oakham, two trees were down near Scott Rd. |
| August 2024 | Hail | Oakham | - | In Oakham, 1 inch hail fell. |
Maps showing this location
18 surveysUnited 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.
- 1887 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500
- 1889 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500
- 1894 USGS Barre quadrangle1:62500 - 7 printings
- 1908 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000 - 2 printings
- 1942 USGS Ware quadrangle1:125000
- 1946 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:31680 - 2 printings
- 1948 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1952 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
- 1952 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:31680 - 2 printings
- 1956 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1962 USGS Albany quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:25000
- 1967 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:24000 - 2 printings
- 1975 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:25000
- 1982 USGS North Brookfield quadrangle1:25000 - 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Holyoke quadrangle1:100000 - 2 printings
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther 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 | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | West Brick School | 0.7 miles | 2011 |
| Oakham Center Historic District | 1.5 miles | 2020 | |
 | Barre Common District | 4.3 miles | 1976 |
 | Gen. Rufus Putnam House | 5.1 miles | 1972 |
 | No. 4 Schoolhouse | 5.5 miles | 1988 |
 | Hardwick Village Historic District | 6.6 miles | 1991 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100002197 in Record Group 79. |
| Wikipedia article | Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA. |
| Worcester County | All 686 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.