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Photograph of Community House
Photograph by John Phelan, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Community House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. 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

“The Community House at 284 Bay Road in Hamilton, Massachusetts is a historic social and civic community building serving the towns of Hamilton and Wenham. The Colonial Revival brick building was built in 1921 to a design by noted Boston architect Guy Lowell, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.”

Wikipedia article Community House (Hamilton, Massachusetts), CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 2011 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 2 buildingss, 1 object as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 284 Bay Rd., Hamilton, 01982
  • When was it listed? 2011-05-11
  • Category. building
  • Township. Hamilton town
  • Architectural style. Colonial Revival architecture
  • Architect. Guy Lowell
  • National Register reference number. 11000265 - 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.

Fires near this property

58 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 58 fires within 5 miles of Community House between 2015 and 2020, burning about 111 acres in total. 1 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 burning19
Recreation and ceremony12
Equipment and vehicle use6
Smoking5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined5
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Arson/incendiarism2
Power generation/transmission/distribution1
Fireworks1
Natural1

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
7 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
5 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
4 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
21 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
8 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY
3 August 2020Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
28 August 2016Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlIPSWICH
27 August 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBEVERLY

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 5,435 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 5,435 specimens collected within 10 miles of Community House between 1800 and 1975: 1,859 Plantae, 1,579 Animalia, 1,198 Fungi, 388 Unrecorded, 275 Chromista, 71 Bacteria, 65 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A H HIGGINSON, A Perlmutter, A. A. Eaton 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 Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) AntonĂ­n, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Diphyscium foliosum, not of this specimenDiphyscium foliosum (Hedw.) D.Mohr1822ALCOTT
A photograph of the species Arcyria oerstedii, not of this specimenArcyria oerstedii Rostaf., 18751826F. A. Gilbert
A photograph of the species Glyceria obtusa, not of this specimenGlyceria obtusa (Muhl.) Trin.1838W Oakes
A photograph of the species Lecanora tartarea, not of this specimenLecanora tartarea (L.) Ach.1839E. TuckermanManchester
A photograph of the species Ochrolechia yasudae, not of this specimenOchrolechia yasudae Vainio1839Tuckerman, E.[USA] Manchester, Massachusetts.
A photograph of the species Clethra alnifolia, not of this specimenClethra alnifolia L.1840OakesHerbariumRowley
A photograph of the species Euphorbia polygonifolia, not of this specimenEuphorbia polygonifolia L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Iva frutescens, not of this specimenIva frutescens L.1840Oakesad Ipswich
A photograph of the species Potentilla anserina, not of this specimenPotentilla anserina L.1840Wolle, J.Ipswich
A photograph of the species Sisymbrium officinale, not of this specimenSisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.1840OakesIpswich

All 5,435 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 Community House: 5 past producers, 3 plants. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Zirconium, Thorium, Mercury. 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
(Facility) Travers Labs Refinery--Beverly, Ma.Mercury, Silver, Gold, REEPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Danvers, Ma.ThoriumPlant
Thiokol Ventron Div--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPlant
Ventron Corp--Beverly, Ma.ZirconiumPast Producer
Goodhue PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
R W DrinkwaterSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
R W Drinkwater IncSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Topseal PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this property

4 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Hamilton, the town this property stands in, in 4 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind. 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 2014Thunderstorm WindHamilton$5,000A tree and wires on Winthrop Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindHamilton$1,000At 444 PM EST, a tree was reported down on Woodbury Street in Hamilton.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindHamilton$300In Ipswich, a tree was down on County Rd.
August 1993Thunderstorm WindHamilton-Trees were downed by thunderstorm winds.

Every storm recorded in Essex 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

7,445 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.) 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 ot a type, period, ormethod 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.) Essex, MA County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT ENTERTAINMENT/RECREATION Period of Significance 1921-1961 Significant Dates 1921 - original building constructed 1960 -bowling alley constructed Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder Guy Lowell Anna Coleman Watts Ladd (sculptor) 2.

The whole case file for this property - 7,445 words, 42 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 11000265, 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Perkins, John, House0.8 miles1990
Larch Farm0.9 miles1990
Claflin-Richards House1.1 miles1973
Brown House1.1 miles1990
Woodberry--Quarrels House1.4 miles1990
Friend, James, House2.1 miles1990

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 11000265 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 350 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.