National Register reference number.96001479- 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.
Then and now
1887 to 1997
The ground this property stands on, surveyed
110 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are
United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
The town of Harvard is located in the eastern part of the county and is bounded as follows : on the north by Ayer ; on the east by Littleton, Boxborough and Stow; on the south by Bolton ; and on the west by Lancaster and Shirley. This town was originally a portion of Lancaster,' and was incorporated January 29, 1732, and named in honor of John Harvard, founder of Harvard University. Portions of Groton and Stow were subsequently added to the town.
The Public Library building and library owe their existence to the sime spirit of benevolence that founded the Bromfield School. The library building was erected at a cost of about ten thousand dollars, all of which, except thirty-nine hundred dollars, raised by the town, was given by former citizens of Harvard. The laru-est amount was a legacy left by Mrs. Hannah W. C. Sawyer, principally from the estate of her husband, A. J. Sawyer, a citizen of Harvard. Warren Hapgood, Esq., of Boston, generously contributed twenty-six hundred dollars, and W. Channing Whitney, of Minneapolis, architect, presented the plans and specifications.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 81 fires within 5 miles of Still River Baptist Church
between 2002 and 2020, burning about 2,688 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
34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
25
Recreation and ceremony
12
Equipment and vehicle use
6
Smoking
3
Railroad operations and maintenance
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 2,183 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Still River Baptist Church between 1859 and 1974: 1,269 Animalia, 541 Plantae, 353 Fungi, 11 Unrecorded, 8 Chromista, 1 Protozoa.
12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A. B. Seymour, A. C. Gibson, A. Ferrett 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
10 workings within 5 miles of Still River Baptist Church: 7 past producers, 3 producers.
3 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, 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.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The National Weather Service names
Harvard, the town this property stands in, in 13 storm reports between 1994 and 2021: 9 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 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.
Golfball size hail damaged a Massachusetts Environmental Police cruiser as they traveled between Interstate 495 and Route 2 through the center of Harvard.
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
Applicable National Register Criteria (Mark "x" in one or more boxes for the criteria qualifying the property for National Register listing.) x A Property is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history. _B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. x C Property embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values, or represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. _ D Property has yielded, or is likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history.
Criteria Considerations (Mark "x" in all the boxes that apply.) Property is: x A owned by religious institution or used for religious purposes. _B removed from its original location. _C a birthplace or grave. Harvard (Worcester County), Massachusetts County and State Areas of Significance (Enter categories from instructions) Architecture Religion Social History Period of Significance 1832-1946 Significant Dates 1832, 1867, 1870, 1902 Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) N/A Cultural Affiliation N/A _D a cemetery. _E a reconstructed building, object, or structure. _F a commemorative property. _G less than 50 years of age or achieved significance within the past 50 years.
Narrative Statement of Significance (Explain the significance of the property on one or more continuation sheets.) Architect/Builder 9.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 96001479, 21 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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