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Warren, H., House, photograph from the federal nomination
Warren, H., House, photograph from the federal nomination

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

Warren, H., House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. 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 citizens now began to awaken to a sense of the importance of this appendage of Charlestown. They felt that their territory was neglected by the town government, and their wishes disregarded; that they were taxed for supporting institutions, and making improvements in the benefits of which they did not participate, and that they did not receive returns at all commensurate with the amount of money they contributed.”

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 1989 · 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. 205 School St., Somerville, 02145
  • When was it listed? 1989-09-18
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. Somerville MPS
  • Township. Somerville city
  • National Register reference number. 89001283 - 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 Somerville. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The surface is uneven, and rises into no less than eight considerable elevations, of which Prospect, Winter, Spring, and Central hills, and Mount Benedict are the principal. The soil is various, and in many places excellent for cultivation. Good sand for building purposes is abundant, and a vein of clay, suitable for brickmaking, underlies much of the surface. The only stratified rock to be found in Somerville is slate. The intrusive rocks, cropping out in numerous ledges, in which occur an unusual variety of minerals, are entirely diabase. The formation is particularly rich in dikes.

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

At the founding of Charlestown in 1628, and for the first ten years, the area of the peninsula generally sufficed for the wants of the settlers; but when, in 1637, land became so scarce within the neck tiiat new-comers were rarely granted more than a citizensliip, purchases were made of the Indians, and settlements began to extend upon the mainland. Tiie territory north and east of the Charles River was then owned by the Pawtucket Indians ; and by payment of thirty-six shillings in 16-37, and twenty-one coats, nineteen fathoms of wampum, and three bushels of corn, two years later to Squa Sachem and Webcowit, rulers of the tribe, the latter were well satisfied to relinquish to the town of Charlestown all the territory that is now Somerville. A few settlers had established themselves on the mainland from the earliest period.

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

82 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 82 fires within 5 miles of Warren, H., House between 2015 and 2020, burning about 112 acres in total. None started naturally. 29 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/incendiarism29
Missing data/not specified/undetermined21
Recreation and ceremony13
Debris and open burning11
Smoking6
Equipment and vehicle use1
Misuse of fire by a minor1

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
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
21 September 2020Missing 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 1,824 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 1,824 specimens collected within 10 miles of Warren, H., House between 1898 and 1975: 796 Animalia, 564 Plantae, 400 Fungi, 27 Protozoa, 17 Bacteria, 12 Chromista, 8 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 Boletellus russellii, not of this specimenBoletellus russellii (Frost) E.-J.Gilbert1898H. Webster
A photograph of the species Boletus peckii, not of this specimenBoletus peckii Frost1898H. WebsterEdge of Reservation
A photograph of the species Boletus speciosus, not of this specimenBoletus speciosus Frost1898J. R. Webster
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 Chimaphila maculata, not of this specimenChimaphila maculata (L.) Pursh1898Nathaniel T. KidderMilton
A photograph of the species Cladonia coccifera, not of this specimenCladonia coccifera (L.) Willd.1898Francis P DanielsCambridge
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 1,824 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Warren, H., House: 9 plants, 2 past producers, 1 producer. 10 still produce. What was taken out: Iron, Lead, Gypsum-Anhydrite, 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.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
(Facility) Vulcan Smelter--Chelsea, Ma.Copper, LeadPlant
C. J. MabardySand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Malden QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
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
Somerville Smelting Co.LeadPlant

Every working recorded in Middlesex County

Storms near this property

7 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Somerville, the town this property stands in, in 7 storm reports between 2006 and 2021: 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flood. 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
December 2014FloodSomerville$30,000Water flooded Medford Street up to the roof of a vehicle. Two vehicles were stuck in flood waters on Medford Street. In addition, a large sinkhole opened up as a result of the flooding. This resulted in the street closing through Wednesday, December 10 while crews figured out how to repair the sinkhole.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindSomerville$10,000no account filed
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$4,000At 427 PM EST, a member of the public reported several trees uprooted in the Winter Hill section of Somerville.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$1,500At 428 PM EST, a tree and wires were reported down on Heath Street in Somerville.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSomerville$1,500At 429 PM EST, a tree and wires were downed on Bow Street in Medford.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSomerville$500In Somerville, a tree was down on the 40 block of Derby St.
October 2018FloodSomerville-Water bursting out of manhole covers on Mystic Avenue, south of Route 16.

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

949 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 - 949 words, 8 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 89001283, 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
House at 21 Dartmouth Streetunder 500 feet1989
Otis--Wyman House0.1 miles1989
Hopkins, Elisha, House0.2 miles1989
Tufts, Peter and Oliver, House0.2 miles1989
Russell, Susan, House0.2 miles1989
Highland, The0.3 miles1989

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 89001283 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.