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Photograph of Olney Cook Artisan Shop
Photograph by Swampyank, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Olney Cook Artisan Shop

Built in 1839. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. 21 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.

From the record

One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 2019 · category: Building · built in 1839.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 54 Hartford Ave. E., Mendon, 01756
  • When was it listed? 2019-12-06
  • Category. building
  • Town. Mendon town
  • When was it built? 1839
  • National Register reference number. 100004699 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

The ground it stands on

9,723 words

The chapter on Mendon Town in History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889 names Mendon. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

On the 15th day of May, 1867, in a small town iu the southeastern part of Worcester County, ''a vast assemblage," as one of those addressing it justly de- scribed it, were gathered together. Orators, poets, distinguished jurists, clergymen, statesmen and men of military renown were present, or regretfully sent excuses for their absence. The inhabitants of Milford, Blackstone, Uxbridge, Northbridge, Upton and Bellingham, with hundreds from more remote parts of the State and nation, had met to celebrate the two hundredth anniversary of the incorporation of what they lovingly called the "Mother Town of Mendon." The distinguished speakers seemed to feel it a high' privilege to recount the story of the ancient town, and found the day far too short for their purpose. Several of them had names borne by six generations of Mendon's inhabitants now passed away, as well as by many of its present citizens, and they felt they were telling the story of their ancestors as they narrated how the Aldrichs, Staples, Holbrooks, Thompsons, Chapins, Tafts and others painfully made their way from the coast to this fertile, hilly region, established homes, church, schools, and laid the foundation for all the abounding life of these busy towns of to-day.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, published 1889.

Mendon, next to Lancaster in antiquity among Worcester County towns, was and is, well deserving of noticehistorically. Eighteen of these are at least a hundred years younger than she. The town of Worcester was incorporated sixteen years later than Mendon, and she is more than forty-five years older than any other town in the county, except Lancaster, and sixty-three years older than the county itself.

Passage source: History of Worcester County, Massachusetts, 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 Mendon Town - 9,723 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

117 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 117 fires within 5 miles of Olney Cook Artisan Shop between 2002 and 2020, burning about 142 acres in total. None started naturally. 13 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 burning34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined27
Smoking17
Recreation and ceremony16
Arson/incendiarism13
Equipment and vehicle use6
Railroad operations and maintenance2
Other causes1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

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
8 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 September 2015Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
27 September 2015Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM
27 September 2015Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBELLINGHAM

Every fire recorded in Worcester County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 398 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 398 specimens collected within 10 miles of Olney Cook Artisan Shop between 1844 and 1975: 169 Plantae, 129 Animalia, 95 Fungi, 3 Unrecorded, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. P. D. Piguet, A. R. Hodgdon; F. L. Steele 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
Specimen of Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.Chilonectria coryli (Fuckel) Ellis & Everh.1896Henderson
Specimen of Coryneum pulvinatum KunzeCoryneum pulvinatum Kunze1897D. Murray
A photograph of the species Trichophorum planifolium, not of this specimenTrichophorum planifolium (Spreng.) Palla1844Collector unspecifiedUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex vesicaria, not of this specimenCarex vesicaria L.1848J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Potamogeton epihydrus, not of this specimenPotamogeton epihydrus Raf.1848J. W. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Potamogeton bicupulatus, not of this specimenPotamogeton bicupulatus Fernald1854W. J. RobbinsUxbridge
A photograph of the species Carex brevior, not of this specimenCarex brevior (Dewey) Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex normalis, not of this specimenCarex normalis Mack.1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex siccata, not of this specimenCarex siccata Dewey1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Carex straminea, not of this specimenCarex straminea Willd. ex Schkuhr1855J. W. Robbins
A photograph of the species Hyla versicolor, not of this specimenHyla versicolor LeConte, 18251857Weinland, David Friedrich
Phyllosticta pyrina Sacc.1893R. A. Harper

All 398 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 11 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 11 workings within 5 miles of Olney Cook Artisan Shop: 8 past producers, 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. 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
Candlewood Recreation AreaSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Carl A MolinariSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Carl A. Molinari PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
High Street PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Highway PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Oliveira PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Richard C HillSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Rosenfeld PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Sand & Gravel OperationSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Town of BellinghamSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Worcester County

Storms near this property

6 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Mendon, the town this property stands in, in 6 storm reports between 2001 and 2020: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010Thunderstorm WindMendon$30,000Numerous trees were downed by thunderstorm winds in Mendon and Hopedale. One tree took down a utility pole and wires as it fell on Gaskill Street.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindMendon$2,500At 435 PM EST, trees were down on Neck Hill Road and Gaskill Street in Mendon. The roads were impassable.
November 2020Thunderstorm WindMendon$500In Mendon, a tree was down on Route 16.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindMendon-In Mendon at 553 PM EDT, a mesonet site recorded a wind gust to 58 mph.
July 2019FloodMendon-In Mendon, Route 16 near the marina was flooded with 2 feet of water across the roadway.
June 2001HailMendon-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Worcester County

Maps showing this location

21 surveys

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.

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
Nathan C. Aldrich House and Resthaven Chapel0.7 miles2006
Mendon Center Historic District1.7 miles2003
Richard Sayles House2.3 miles1983
Bancroft Memorial Library2.6 miles1999
Southwick-Daniels Farm2.8 miles1995
Prospect Heights Historic District2.9 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 100004699 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Worcester CountyAll 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.