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Billings, Frederick, House, photograph from the federal nomination
Billings, Frederick, House, photograph from the federal nomination

Photographs from the nomination case file, National Park Service records.

Billings, Frederick, House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. 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 forces occupying the hills of Somenille constituted the left wing of the army besieging Boston. The first of the line of fortifications were earthworks in the vicinity of Everett Street.”

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts (1880). Machine-read text.

one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · one of 3 National Historic Landmarks in Middlesex County.

Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 45 Orchard St., Cambridge, 02140
  • When was it listed? 1982-04-13
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Cambridge MRA
  • Township. Somerville city
  • National Register reference number. 82001923 - 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.

The ground it stands on

55,107 words

The chapter on Somerville City in History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880 names Cambridge. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

Mr. John Woolu'ich, " Indian trader," lived a mile and a half without the neck, on the Cambridge Eoad, near Strawberry Hill, as early as 1630. He was a representative to tlie General Court in 1634'. John Libby and William Ayre were also early settlers in the same neighborhood.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

The early inhabitants of Somerville were mostly farmers, and many of them large producers of milk. A few were engaged in alewife fishery at the proper seasons. Brickmaking M-as a branch of industry Oldened after the Eevolution, and has been since continued. At the time of the Eevolution the population of the Somerville territory could not have been more than two hundred and fifty. The houses numbered a few more than thirty, and were principally on the Cambridge, Winter Hill, and Milk Eow roads.

Passage source: History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County, published 1880.

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 Somerville City - 55,107 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

86 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 86 fires within 5 miles of Billings, Frederick, House between 2015 and 2020, burning about 113 acres in total. None started naturally. 30 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/incendiarism30
Missing data/not specified/undetermined22
Recreation and ceremony14
Debris and open burning11
Smoking6
Misuse of fire by a minor2
Equipment and vehicle use1

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
4 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
3 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
23 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2018Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlBROOKLINE

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,841 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,841 specimens collected within 10 miles of Billings, Frederick, House between 1898 and 1975: 812 Animalia, 564 Plantae, 398 Fungi, 29 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 12 Chromista, 9 Unrecorded. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by ?, A B Seymour, A B. Proper 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 Trientalis borealis Raf.Trientalis borealis Raf.1900A. P. Chute
Aglaospora profusa (Fr.) De Not.1898Collector unspecified
A photograph of the species Bulbostylis capillaris, not of this specimenBulbostylis capillaris var. crebra Fernald1898C. H. KnowltonBoston.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus cinnabarinus, not of this specimenCantharellus cinnabarinus (Schwein.) Schwein.1898not recordedNewton.
A photograph of the species Cantharellus infundibuliformis, not of this specimenCantharellus infundibuliformis (Scop.) Fr.1898not recordedMelrose.
A photograph of the species Cladonia coccifera, not of this specimenCladonia coccifera (L.) Willd.1898Francis P DanielsCambridge
A photograph of the species Cladonia rangiferina, not of this specimenCladonia rangiferina (L.) Weber1898Francis P DanielsArlington Heights
A photograph of the species Cordyceps capitata, not of this specimenCordyceps capitata (Holmsk.) Link1898Conant, [?] F.Middlesex Fells
A photograph of the species Crataegus coccinea, not of this specimenCrataegus coccinea L.1898NoneHarvard University Arboretum
A photograph of the species Ctenidium malacodes, not of this specimenCtenidium malacodes Mitt.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Acanthis flammea, not of this specimenAcanthis flammea flammea (Linnaeus, 1758)1900ZAPPEY, W RROSLINDALE
A photograph of the species Acer carpinifolium, not of this specimenAcer carpinifolium Siebold & Zucc.1900A. K. HarrisonHarvard Botanic Garden, Cambridge.

All 1,841 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 13 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 13 workings within 5 miles of Billings, Frederick, House: 10 plants, 3 past producers. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium). 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) Vulcan Smelter--Chelsea, Ma.Copper, LeadPlant
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Mahoney:S Rocky LedgePeatPast ProducerPeat
Nrc Inc--Newton, Ma.Tantalum, Niobium (Columbium)Plant
Syncor Prdts Co--Malden, Ma.SilicaPlant
Us Gypsum Co--BostonGypsum-AnhydritePast Producer
Whittemore Prdts Inc--BostonPerlitePlant
(Facility) Cambridge Smelter CoLeadPlant
General Metals & Smelting--BostonLeadPlant
Industrial Serv. Centers--CambridgeIronPlant

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this property

16 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Cambridge, the town this property stands in, in 16 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 7 thunderstorm wind, 3 flood, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. 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 2008LightningCambridge$250,000Lightning struck the roof of a house on Pearl Street, setting it on fire.
April 2010LightningCambridge$150,000Lightning struck a building on Franklin Street, knocking part of the building into the street.
August 2018FloodCambridge$15,000At 6:46 AM, Memorial Drive in Cambridge was flooded and impassable at Massachusetts Avenue. Multiple cars were trapped in floodwaters.
September 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$8,000At 1034 AM EST, an amateur radio operator reported a tree down on a car between Howard Street and Western Avenue in Cambridge.
May 2020Thunderstorm WindCambridge$7,500In Cambridge, a power pole was down on Cambridge Street.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000At 430 PM EST, a tree and wires were brought down on a car on Pearl Street in Cambridge.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000At 430 PM EST, a tree and wires were brought down on a car on Pearl Street in Cambridge.
August 2011Thunderstorm WindCambridge$5,000Trees and wires on Belmont and Windsor Streets were downed by thunderstorm winds.
October 2006FloodCambridge$5,000Significant urban flooding was reported in Cambridge.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge$1,000At 422 PM EST, a tree was brought down on Harvard Street in Cambridge. A wind gust to 63 MPH was measured in East Cambridge.
July 2023Flash FloodCambridge-In Cambridge, there was major flooding on the corner of Green St and Western Ave.
May 2023FloodCambridge-In Cambridge, Vassar Street, near MIT, was flooded and impassable per campus law enforcement. Report relayed via amateur radio.
July 2018Flash FloodCambridge-At 5:29 PM EST the Memorial Ave underpass under Massachusetts Avenue was flooded and impassable.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindCambridge-At 422 PM EST, a 63 mph wind gust was measured by a mesonet station in East Cambridge.
July 2013Flash FloodCambridge-Main Street in Cambridge was closed due to flooding.
July 2008HailCambridge-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Middlesex 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

847 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 reproduced in full on its own page, word for word and 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.

The whole case file for this property - 847 words, 8 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 82001923, 8 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
Aborn, John, Houseunder 500 feet1982
Watson, Abraham, Houseunder 500 feet1982
St. James Episcopal Churchunder 500 feet1983
Russell, Philemon, House0.1 miles1989
John Winthrop Chambers, The0.1 miles2023
Henderson Carriage Repository0.1 miles1982

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 82001923 in Record Group 79.
Middlesex CountyAll 1100 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.