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Ware's Tavern, photograph from the federal nomination
Ware's Tavern, photograph from the federal nomination

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

Ware's Tavern

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. 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

“At this time Philip, the great sachem of the Wampanoags, was on the war-path, scattering fire and death wherever he went; and the consternation excited in the minds of the settlers was something of which we can have no adequate idea. The rapidity of the movements of the Indians through the by-paths, the thickets, and the forests, with which they were perfectly familiar, their stealthy advances, their sudden appearances, and violent murderous attacks as they swooped down on a village or a settlement, caused them to be peculiarly dreaded by a people who were wholly unaccustomed to this savage mode of warfare.”

History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : Containing Carefully Prepared Histories of Every City and Town in the County (1880). Machine-read text.

one of 1100 National Register listings in Middlesex County · listed in 1986 · 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. 113 S. Main St., Sherborn, 01770
  • When was it listed? 1986-01-03
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Sherborn MRA
  • Township. Sherborn town
  • National Register reference number. 86000512 - 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

14,425 words

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

Holbrooke took possessiou and commenced their labors. They were soon followed b}' Henry Layland, Benjamin Bullard, George Fairbank, John Hill, Thomas Breck, and Daniel Morse. Most of these persons were men of substance, of strong, determined character, hardy, and not easily discouraged, as the event proved. Many of their names still live in the persons of their descendants, who are found among the prominent citizens 'of Sherborn at this day. And they required all the energy and endurance of which man is capable to subdue tlie wild lands " in the wilderness beyond Medfield," and to protect themselves against the lurking Indian. For although the Nipmuck Indians who inhabited this portion of the colony had been treated fairly in the purchase of their lands, and were at first friendly, they were afterwards influenced and controlled by King Philip with disastrous results to the settlers.

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

These first residents settled in the south and southeast parts of Sherborn, which then included a portion of the present eastern part of Medway. The Indian name for the locality was Boggestow ; it is perpetuated in the name of a meadow, pond, and brook. In various petitions to the governor of the colony and the General Court, the settlers termed themselves " inhabitants of Bogistow," and " inhabitants and proprietors of lands at or near Boggestow."

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 Sherborn Town - 14,425 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

91 since 2016

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 91 fires within 5 miles of Ware's Tavern between 2016 and 2020, burning about 40 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 3 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 burning40
Missing data/not specified/undetermined25
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Recreation and ceremony6
Natural3
Arson/incendiarism3
Railroad operations and maintenance3
Fireworks2
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
9 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
9 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
26 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
22 September 2020Debris and open burningunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
1 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlASHLAND
1 September 2017Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlSHERBORN
9 August 2020Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Middlesex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 1,130 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,130 specimens collected within 10 miles of Ware's Tavern between 1898 and 1975: 854 Animalia, 174 Plantae, 100 Fungi, 2 Chromista. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. L. Bosworth, A. L. Dean 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 Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822Corvus brachyrhynchos brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 18221900not recordedWayland
A photograph of the species Actaea pachypoda, not of this specimenActaea pachypoda Elliott1898Ernest Charles Smith
A photograph of the species Antennaria howellii, not of this specimenAntennaria howellii subsp. canadensis (Greene) R.J.Bayer1898Williams, E.F.
A photograph of the species Antennaria parlinii, not of this specimenAntennaria parlinii subsp. fallax (Greene) R.J.Bayer & Stebbins1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Antennaria plantaginifolia, not of this specimenAntennaria plantaginifolia (L.) Hook.1898not recorded
A photograph of the species Aquilegia canadensis, not of this specimenAquilegia canadensis L.1898M. I. GunnNatick
A photograph of the species Agonopterix atrodorsella, not of this specimenAgonopterix atrodorsella Clemens, 18631900E. J. SmithSherborn
A photograph of the species Apantesis Walker, not of this specimenApantesis Walker, 18551900E. J. SmithSherborn
A photograph of the species Apatelodes torrefacta, not of this specimenApatelodes torrefacta J.E.Smith, 17971900E. J. SmithSherborn
A photograph of the species Archips cerasivorana, not of this specimenArchips cerasivorana (Fitch, 1856)1900E. J. SmithSherborn
A photograph of the species Bleptina caradrinalis, not of this specimenBleptina caradrinalis Guenée, 18541900E. J. SmithSherborn
A photograph of the species Boletus auriporus, not of this specimenBoletus auriporus Peck1900G. E. Morris

All 1,130 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 20 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Ware's Tavern: 14 past producers, 3 producers, 3 plants. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Granite, 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hawkridge Bros--Ashland, Ma.IronPlant
Holliston PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Needham PitStonePast Producer
Simeone Stone CorpGranitePast ProducerGranite
Ashland PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPlant
Ashland PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Ashland Sand and Gravel CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Holliston PlantSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Holliston Sand CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary
Irving Trucking CoSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast ProducerSedimentary

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this property

9 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sherborn, the town this property stands in, in 9 storm reports between 2002 and 2021: 8 thunderstorm wind, 1 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
May 2002LightningSherborn$200,000no account filed
February 2016Thunderstorm WindSherborn$20,000Trees and wires were downed throughout Sherborn.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindSherborn$15,000Three trees on Hunting Lane and North Main Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindSherborn$5,000A large tree was downed in Sherborn.
February 2016Thunderstorm WindSherborn$5,000A tree between Morse Road and Eliot Street in Sherborn was downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2013Thunderstorm WindSherborn$5,000Two trees on Washington Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindSherborn$2,000A tree was downed on Lake Street.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindSherborn$1,000A tree on Lake Street was downed across the road by thunderstorm winds.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSouth Sherborn$500In Sherborn, a tree was down on South Main Street (Route 27) at Bullard Street (Route 115).

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

1,362 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 - 1,362 words, 10 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 86000512, 10 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
Sewall--Ware Houseunder 500 feet1986
Dowse, Rev. Edmund, House0.8 miles1986
Woodland Farm--Leland House0.9 miles1986
Sanger, Richard, III, House0.9 miles1986
Sanger, Asa, House1.0 miles1986
Fleming, Thomas, House1.1 miles1986

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 86000512 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.