Built in 1780 (Greek Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. 20 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1887.
From the record
One of 686 National Register listings published here for Worcester County · listed in 2011 · category: Building · built in 1780, Greek Revival architecture.
Architectural style. Greek Revival architecture, Federal architecture
National Register reference number.11000664- 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.
Then and now
1887 to 1997
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
William Addison Howe, son of Solomon and Sarah (Stowe) Howe, both of Marlboro', wa-s born in Berlin July 4, 18015. He was inherently a " business man." The " heredity " was jirobably of the Stowe blood. His father was a country merchant - groceries, hardware, hats, cotton cloth, calicoes and broadcloth. Young Howe at sixteen bought and sold on his own judgment. A " tavern " was run in connection. The father died at the son's majority ; the mother soon after. He kejit the family of five in home life till his location in Boston as a wholesale dry goods merchant at thirty-one years of age. This ability had come of his own hand in a country store in a town of six hundred inhabitants. He took a younger Itrother from the farm and made of him also a Boston merchant. Aci|uiring reputation as a business man, he left the store to his brother and a partner, and took the i)residency of the Eliot Fire Insurance Company, which soon had an established reputation. In connection he was also elected president of the Eliot Bank. These offices he held till stricken by paralysis, in 1858. His life was prolonged till the 1st of October, 1863. His years of feebleness were spent upon the homestead, which he had sacredly kept. He never married. His last days, though clouded, were enjoyable. His ambition for wealth (he had a competence) was never half so intense as was his desire to stand among the successful business men of Boston. This was the pride of his life.
As it is, Berlin is one of the eight towns of the county having less than a thousand in population, and two of these towns join us. Berlin, now bounded north by Bolton, east by Hudson and Marlboro', south by Northboro' and west by Boylston and Clinton, is, territorially, a section of the original " ten miles square" of Lancaster, and the southeast corner of it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 126 fires within 5 miles of Bullard House
between 2004 and 2020, burning about 72 acres in total. None started naturally. 12 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
55
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
23
Recreation and ceremony
20
Arson/incendiarism
12
Smoking
9
Misuse of fire by a minor
4
Power generation/transmission/distribution
2
Equipment and vehicle use
1
The most recent of
them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service
that recorded it.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. Museums hold 1,645 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Bullard House between 1858 and 1973: 1,103 Animalia, 296 Plantae, 235 Fungi, 5 Unrecorded, 3 Chromista, 3 Protozoa.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. C. Gibson, A. G. Chandler, A. K. Harrison 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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists
18 workings within 5 miles of Bullard House: 15 past producers, 3 producers.
3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Dimension, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the
map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring
settlement's page as well.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Berlin, the town this property stands in, in 7 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 4 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 hail, 1 tornado.
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.
EF1 tornado touched down west of Barnes Hill Road in Berlin, MA and traveled ENE crossing Derby road and West street. Many soft or hardwood trees snapped at the trunk or uprooted.
In Berlin, a tree was down on a guardrail on Coburn Road and West Street. A tree was down on Pleasant Street and a large limb was down at Pleasant Street and Kendall Lane. A tree was also down on Bridge Road at River Road West.
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.
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. XC 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 thepast 50years. Norcester, MF County and Stat Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) ARCHITECTURE COMMUNITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COMMERCE Period of Significance ca. 1780 te 1961 Significant Dates ca.
1780 (construction) Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A Architect/Builder Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) 9.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 11000664, 39 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.
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.
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