Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. 18 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1886.
From the record
“The Franklin Block is a historic commercial building in Brockton, Massachusetts. The three-story brick Romanesque Revival-style building was built in 1888.”
Wikipedia article Franklin Block (Brockton, Massachusetts), CC BY-SA 4.0.
One of 138 National Register listings published here for Plymouth County · listed in 1989 · category: Building.
National Register reference number.89000042- 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.
TJniversalist Society. - Since the settlement of Rev. Mr. Surt, in 1864, the pulpit of the Universalists of Brockton has had a varied experience, and the supply been somewhat irregular. Rev. Stephen L. Rorapaugh was pastor from May, 1864, to Dec. 16, 1806, when he resigned, though he continued preaching till March 24, 1867. The next pastor was the Rev. Isaac M. Atwood, from May, 1807, to 1872. Rev. S. S. Hcbard, April, 1872.
Several changes took place in the affairs of the society from 1872 to 1877. About that time Rev. Samuel L. Beal removed to Brockton from Provincetown, and gathered a new organization of members of the disbanded society, and preached in the old Universalist Church, which was then unoccupied, where he remained for a few months, and then removed to the Grand Army Hall, East Elm Street, where he remained for two to three years. His first great effort was to organize a Sunday-school, which he did on the 5th day of June, 1877. In 1880 this society removed to Cunningham Hall, formerly the old Universalist Church, where he continued for about three years. On the 9th of November, 1880, a new and legal organization of the society took place, under the name of New Universalist Society. The success uf the society has been largely through the efforts and labors of Rev. Mr. Beal, who had gatliercd au assembly representing nearly one hundred families, and a Sunday-school having a library of about one thousand volumes. Mr. Beal was an active and earnest man in the pulpit. He was also deeply interested in temperance and other reforms in the city, and labored vigorously with tongue and pen to check the tide of intemperance and vice, and often with telling effect. Mr. Beal did faithful service on the school committee in 1882. Rev. Mr. Beal retired from the service of this church in August, 1883.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 439 fires within 5 miles of Franklin Block
between 2004 and 2020, burning about 189 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 9 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
221
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
141
Misuse of fire by a minor
31
Recreation and ceremony
17
Smoking
14
Arson/incendiarism
9
Natural
5
Fireworks
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 534 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Franklin Block between 1857 and 1975: 209 Plantae, 200 Fungi, 123 Animalia, 1 Protozoa, 1 Unrecorded.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. A. Eaton, A. B. Seymour, A. Clark 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 Franklin Block: 6 past producers, 1 producer.
1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. 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
Brockton, the town this property stands in, in 26 storm reports between 1994 and 2023: 8 thunderstorm wind, 8 hail, 3 heavy rain, 3 lightning.
The reports record 60 injuries. 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.
Numerous trees and wires were downed by thunderstorm winds throughout Brockton. This includes trees and wires on Warren Avenue in front of the Boys and Girls Club, near the high school, on Route 14, on French and Perkins Avenues, and on Ash Street. One of these trees fell on a dentists office on South Street in the Campello neighborhood.
A line of thunderstorms moved across parts of central and eastern Massachusetts with wind gusts to 40 to 50 mph. In Lowell, two children received minor injuries when a tree fell on them after it was uprooted by winds gusting to an estimated 50 mph. In Southboro, large tree limbs were downed. In Swampscott, a tree fell on an automobile. In Belmont, Cambridge, and Watertown, tree limbs and a few power lines were reported blown down. In Brockton, two large tree limbs were knocked down. In downtown Boston, a street sign was blown down and hit a man on the head.
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
FRANKLIN BLOCK, BROCKTON,MASSACHUSETTS Certifying official has considered the significance of this property in relation to other properties: nationally statewide Lx locally Applicable National Register Criteria Criteria Considerations (Exceptions) Areas of Significance (enter categories from instructions) COMMERCE ARCHITECTURE C Period of Significance 1888-1920 Significant Dates 1888 Cultural Affiliation N/A Significant Person N/A Architect/Builder -UNKNOWN State significance of property, and justify criteria, criteria considerations, and areas and periods of significance noted above. The Franklin Block retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, feeling, workmanship, and association, and meets Criteria A and C of the National Register of Historic Places on the local level.
This Romanesque-style commercial block is a well-preserved, handsomely detailed example of the style, one of only two surviving substantial commercial buildings of the late 19th century in the Campello section of Brockton. Built in 1888, the Franklin Block is associated with a period of commercial and industrial expansion in Brockton and particularly in Campello. Brockton is the only inland city in Plymouth County. It was first incorporated as the North Precinct of Bridgewater in 1738. The shoe industry, which was to become the focus of Brockton's economy, began to develop in the early 19th century. The mid 19th century saw the transformation of Brockton's shoe and boot production from a cottage industry to a major manufacturing center.
In 1837, the total annual value of boots and shoes made in Brockton was $184,200; by 1865, the figure had grown to $1,466,900. The Campello section developed as a result of industrial expansion along the railroad, which was parallel to Main Street one block to the east along Montello Street. -The result was an elongated development with industry concentrated along the railroad, commercial buildings along Main Street. Much of the area was destroyed by a fire in 1853.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 89000042, 15 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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