BlockBefore
Photograph of Redtop
Photograph by Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Red Top

A National Historic Landmark. Built in 1877 (Queen Anne style architecture in the United States). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. 16 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1893.

From the record

One of 1,353 National Register listings published here for Middlesex County · listed in 1971 · category: Building · built in 1877, Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, by William Rutherford Mead · a National Historic Landmark.

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

The listing

  • Address. 90 Somerset St., Belmont
  • When was it listed? November 1971
  • Category. building
  • When was it built? 1877
  • Architectural style. Queen Anne style architecture in the United States, Shingle style architecture, Colonial Revival architecture
  • Architect. William Rutherford Mead
  • National Register reference number. 71000911 - 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

49 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Red Top between 2015 and 2020, burning about 95 acres in total. None started naturally. 25 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
Arson/incendiarism25
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Debris and open burning6
Recreation and ceremony3
Smoking2
Misuse of fire by a minor2

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 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder 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
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
18 September 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
18 September 2015Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMELROSE
5 August 2016Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD
5 August 2015Arson/incendiarism6.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlMEDFORD

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Mines and quarries near this property

9 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Red Top: 5 plants, 4 past producers. 5 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Iron, Lead, Tantalum. 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
Mahoney:S Rocky LedgePeatPast ProducerPeat
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Rocky Ledge PitClayPast Producer
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
Burton PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant
Somerville Smelting Co.LeadPlant
Wheelock-Lovejoy--Cambridge, Ma.IronPlant

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Maps showing this location

16 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the middle of the area the National Park Service maps for this listing, 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
Pleasant Street Historic District0.2 miles1979
Belmont Railroad Station0.3 miles1998
Abraham Hill House0.6 miles1990
McLean Hospital National Register District0.7 miles2003
Baptist Society Meeting House0.9 miles1985
First Parish Church Parsonage1.0 miles1985

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 71000911 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Middlesex CountyAll 1353 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.
  • 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.