Built in 1887 (Romanesque Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. 19 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 1988 · category: Building · built in 1887, Romanesque Revival architecture, by http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/64e74da195cbfc58fa920e8248b56d0e, Henry Martin Francis.
Architect. http://www.wikidata.org/.well-known/genid/64e74da195cbfc58fa920e8248b56d0e, Henry Martin Francis
National Register reference number.87002562- 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.
On the reception of the news of the battle of Lexington two companies marched from Winchendon, one under the commaud of Captain Abel Wilder, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, and the other under the command of Captain Moses Hale, and attached to the regiment of Colonel Nathan Sparhawk. The Winchendon men in Captain Wilder's company were as follows:
The amount of money expended by the town during the Revolution it is difficult to state with precision. In March, 1777, it was voted to pay a bounty of twenty pounds to soldiers enlisting in the Continental Army, and in November of that year the bounty was raised to one hundred and forty pounds. In 1781 ten thousand pounds were granted to procure beef for the army, and in that year 1412,000 were needed to defray the expenses of the town. It must be remembered, however, that at that time the currency was largely depreciated, and that large sums represented small values. Of course the town of Winchendon came out of the struggle with the purpose for which its people fought accomplished, but largely in debt, and with means so crippled that financial recuperation seemed almost impossible. So extreme was the destitution and so harassed were many of its inhabitants with debts pressing on them for settlement, that much sympathy was found to exist in Winchendon with those who instigated and jiromoted the Shays' Rebellion in 178(). Notwithstanding that rebellion was suppressed, the purposes for which it was excited were to a limited extent accomplished, by the enactment of relieving laws, and after its suppression the people, as best they could, struggled to revive their fallen fortunes, and place themselves once more on the road to prosperity and content.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 14 fires within 5 miles of Murdock School
between 2010 and 2020, burning about 10 acres in total. None started naturally. None was 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
6
Recreation and ceremony
5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
2
Misuse of fire by a minor
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 410 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Murdock School between 1870 and 1973: 213 Plantae, 139 Animalia, 57 Fungi, 1 Unrecorded.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A., A. F. Newton, A. J. Stone 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
7 workings within 5 miles of Murdock School: 5 past producers, 1 occurrence, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Mica, Feldspar, Mica, Feldspar. 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
Winchendon, the town this property stands in, in 13 storm reports between 1998 and 2025: 7 thunderstorm wind, 4 hail, 2 lightning.
The reports record 2 deaths. 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.
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
Murdock School, Winchendon, MA Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: nationally statewide LX locally XA B JA Dc D Applicable National Register Criteria Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) Architecture Education UF LG Period of Significance 1887-1937 Significant Dates Cultural Affiliation N/A Significant Person N/A Architect/Builder Henry M. Francis Henry G. Morse State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. The Murdock School retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, teeling, workmanship, and association and meets National Register criteria A and C on the local level.
The burlding holds associations with the development of Winchendon's educational system, with the Murdock family, which tor two generations remained among the most prosperous, public spirited, and philanthropic of the town's earliest entrepreneurs, and most specifically, with Ephraim Murdock, Jr., an industrialst and real estate magnate whose will created a trust for the construction and endowment of the school. Executed in the Romanesque Revival style by H. M. Francis of Fitchburg, a leading architect in North Worcester County, the well-preserved Murdock School is also the most high style of Winchendon's school buildings. Ephraim Murdock, Jr. (1800-1882), was the grandson of Deborah Williams Murdock (d. 1809) and James Murdock (1738-1813), who moved to Winchendon in 1766.
He was the oldest son of Zebiah Bixby Murdock (d. 1824) and Ephraim Murdock (1772-1853), a housewright and operator of both sleigh and blacksmith shops. Ephraim Murdock, Sr., Amasa Whitney (the owner of several mills, the most important of which was a textile factory), and Isaac Morse, who ran a tannery, currier shop and Winchendon's first hotel, were the principal businessmen in town during the early nineteenth century.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 87002562, 27 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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