BlockFrom the record
one of 28 National Register listings in Franklin County · listed in 2020 · category: Building · one of 1 National Historic Landmarks in Franklin County.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Orange Armory
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020. 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.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 135 East Main St., Orange, 01364
- When was it listed? 2020-08-28
- Category. building
- Township. Orange town
- National Register reference number. 100005477 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
Fires near this property
26 since 2015Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Orange Armory between 2015 and 2020, burning about 9 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 |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| Smoking | 4 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 3 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Fireworks | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 23 August 2020 | Natural | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 10 August 2020 | Fireworks | 1.0 acres | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | TULLY MT FIRE |
| 18 June 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 17 June 2020 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 14 June 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 3 May 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
| 20 May 2020 | Smoking | under an acre | Massachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Control | not named |
Specimens collected near this property
12 of 323 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 323 specimens collected within 10 miles of Orange Armory between 1856 and 1975: 130 Fungi, 102 Animalia, 91 Plantae. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. Cronquist, A. M. Ottley, A. S. Goodale, S.F. Potsubay and F.R. St.John 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Pyxine sorediata (Ach.) Mont. | 1856 | Charles C. Frost | |
 | Teucrium canadense var. canadense | 1873 | not recorded | |
 | Athyrium filix-femina var. angustum (Willd.) G.Lawson | 1876 | Harris, M.E. | Mount Loby |
 | Calla palustris L. | 1880 | G. H. Leland | Northfield Mountain |
 | Rhododendron canadense (L.) Torr. | 1880 | G. H. Leland | |
 | Cetraria Ach., 1803 | 1881 | not recorded | Northfield |
 | Aspidium acrostichoides (Michx.) Sw. | 1886 | Ross, Edith A. | New Salem |
 | Aspidium noveboracense (L.) Sw. | 1886 | Ross, Edith A. | New Salem |
 | Baptisia tinctoria (L.) R.Br. | 1886 | Ross, Mrs. J. W. | New Salem |
 | Caliciopsis pinea Peck | 1928 | Hansbrough J. R. | Athol |
 | Catostomus commersonii (Lacepède, 1803) | 1928 | CL & LC Hubbs | Trib. of Miller's River, South Athol, NW border of Worcester Co., below a dam-pond, above res.; Connecticut system |
 | Corticium confluens (Fr.) Fr. | 1928 | Hansbrough J. R. | Athol |
All 323 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
Mines and quarries near this property
10 of 26 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 26 workings within 5 miles of Orange Armory: 11 occurrences, 8 past producers, 4 producers, 3 prospects. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Mica, Mica, Feldspar, Feldspar. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Almandine - Garnet Occurance | Gemstone, Garnet | Occurrence | Metamorphic | |
| Almandine-Garnet Occurance | Garnet | Occurrence | ||
| Granite Quarry | Stone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| Granite Quarry | Granite | Past Producer | ||
| Talc Quarry | Talc-Soapstone | Producer | Metamorphic | |
| Talc Quarry | Talc-Soapstone | Past Producer | ||
| B L Frye Inc | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | Sedimentary | |
| Frye Pit & Plant | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Town Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Orange Mica Mine | Mica, Feldspar | Occurrence | 1940 |
Storms near this property
29 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orange, the town this property stands in, in 29 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 19 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 3 lightning, 3 flash flood. The reports record 3 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 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | 3 hurt, $20,000 | no account filed |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $50,000 | At 619 PM EST, multiple trees were reported down on Wheeler Avenue in Orange. |On Summer Street and on Stone Road, trees were down on houses causing structural damage. A large tree was down on cars on River Street. Power lines were down on East River Street. A tree and utility pole were down on a car in the town hall parking lot. A power pole and wires were down on Prospect Street. |
| September 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $25,000 | Numerous trees and wires were downed throughout Orange. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $15,000 | Trees and wires were downed on Route 78, East Road, and East River Street by thunderstorm winds. |
| May 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $10,000 | Trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2010 | Lightning | Orange | $10,000 | Lightning struck a house on Burle Avenue. |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $10,000 | no account filed |
| June 2025 | Lightning | Orange | $5,000 | House struck by lightning on Pleasant Street. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Orange | $5,000 | The Orange Airport (KORE) recorded a wind gust to 58 mph. A tree and a tree branch were downed on Dukakis Drive. Trees and wires were reported down on East River Road, Wheeler Pond Road, Main Street, North Orange Road, and Town Farm Road. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $5,000 | A tree and wires on Royalston Road were downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| August 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $5,000 | A tree on Daniel Shays Highway was downed by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $5,000 | Wires were downed onto a car on Horton Road by thunderstorm winds. |
| July 1997 | Lightning | Orange | $3,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | $2,000 | no account filed |
| May 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Orange | $800 | In Warwick, a tree and wires were down on Hockanum Road. |
| July 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | North Orange | $500 | In Orange, a tree was downed on wires on North Main St. |
| June 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | West Orange | $500 | In Orange, a tree branch was down on wires on Warwick Road. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | North Orange | - | In Orange, Royalston Road had the edges of the road washed out to a foot deep in spots. Many rocks rocks rolled onto the roadway. |
| June 2025 | Flash Flood | Orange | - | East Main street between Water and Mechanic Street was closed due to flooding. |
| July 2023 | Flash Flood | West Orange | - | In Orange, Dexter St had significant flooding. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | - | A tree on Main Street was downed onto a house on Main Street. Amount of damage unknown. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | - | Trees down. |
| July 1994 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | - | Trees were reported blown down along Route 2. |
| June 2025 | Hail | Orange | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Orange | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Hail | Orange | - | no account filed |
| July 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orange | - | no account filed |
| May 1995 | Hail | Orange | - | no account filed |
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.
Listed places nearby
2 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whitaker-Clary House | 3.5 miles | 1975 | |
| New Salem Academy | 6.4 miles | 1978 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100005477 in Record Group 79. |
| Franklin County | All 28 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.