Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in
1998. 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
“EDUCATION Period of Significance Significant Dates 1845, Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) Cultural Affiliation Architect/Builder Unknown”
Narrative Statement of Significance, National Register nomination for Palmer School. Machine-read text.
one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 1998 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.
National Register reference number.98000122- 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.
Boxford has always been noted, on account of its rural advantages, temperance, and simple manner of living, as one of the most healthful places that can be found anywhere in our northern latitude. It has been a current remark, and one that is exceedingly full of meaning, that Boxford is without a doctor. The reason of this is, there is little fora doctor to do. Dr. George Moody, who was settled here for a few months, said: " I might as well practise in heaven." 'The inhabitants live generally to extreme old age. The prevalence of fatal diseases is almost unknown. Small-pox was first known in 1722 ; and it prevailed to a slight extent in 1760, and resulted in the deaths of Lydia, wife of Dr. Foster, Jan. 17, and Richard, son of Richard Pearl, Dec. 7, both of the West Parish. In a letter dated Aug. 26, 1776, Eunice, wife of John Pearl, says, "The small-pox has been at Richard Tyler's for several weeks past; those who have had it are likely to get well." Again, in 1854, we were visited by this dire disease ; this time resulting, Dec. 17, in the death of James Leach, a native of Taungend, Eng., and a laborer in the cottonfactory. In order to prevent the prevalence of this disease, Cornelius Gould, Stephen Peabody, and Israel Adams were appointed a committee April 15, 1811, to superintend inoculation.
Brown. - Cornelius was surveyor in 1707, and a selectman in 1711. Wife, Susanna. His dau. Susanna was admitted to First Church, 1705. He lived in the West Parish, and belonged to the church in Bradford till the Second Church was formed in Boxford. His wife d. in 1734, at the age of seventy-four years. He was in Boxford in 1737. Aaron, wife, Susanna, by whom he had ch.: Aaron, b. 1720; Daniel, 1722; and Abigail, 1724. He was taxed here, 1717 and 1718. He d. before 1731, when she m. William Lakeman of Ipswich. Caleb was deacon of the Second Church. Wife, Elizabeth. First child b. 1724. Ch.: Sarah, Mary, Hannah, Elizabeth, Caleb, Susanna, Clark, Hepzibah, David, and Maximilian. Removed to Harvard, spring of 1743- and Martha (Smith) Burbank. Came to Boxford before 1711. His wife was Hannah, by whom he had ch. b. in Boxford: Timothy, Margaret, Asa, and David. He d. "very suddenly," 1 Feb., 1749-50, a. seventy-nine years. denezer, brother of Caleb, b. in Rowley, 28 June, 1687. Was taxed here 1715, 1716. Calls himself of Boxford, 1717, when he confirms to Samuel Cole of Lynn the farm occupied by the late Manly H. Cole. Wife, Sarah. Carpenter by trade.
Regional context, not property-specific
evidence. The
federal wildfire occurrence database
lists 76 fires within 5 miles of Palmer School between
2006 and 2020, burning about 228 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 8 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
21
Recreation and ceremony
15
Missing data/not specified/undetermined
14
Equipment and vehicle use
8
Arson/incendiarism
8
Smoking
5
Power generation/transmission/distribution
3
Fireworks
1
Natural
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 3,062 specimens
collected within 10 miles of Palmer School between 1800 and
1975: 1,233 Plantae, 1,114 Animalia, 645 Fungi, 31 Unrecorded, 14 Chromista, 13 Bacteria, 12 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown.
Collected by A Brown, A. B. Seymour, A. H. Moore 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
4 workings within 5 miles of Palmer School: 4 past producers.
None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Sulfur, Iron. 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
Boxford, the town this property stands in, in 17 storm reports between 2006 and 2023: 14 thunderstorm wind, 2 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.
In Topsfield, a tree and wires were down on Haverhill Rd (Rt 97) at Ipswich Rd. A tree was down on Rowley Rd and a tree was down on wires on Wilmor Rd.
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
4,468 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 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.) XA Property is associated with events that have mad sianificant contribution to the broad patterns o' our history. _B Property is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past. XC 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: _A owned by religious institution or used for religious purposes. XB removed from its original location. _C a birthplace or grave. _ 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.) Essex,MA County and State Areas of Significancs Enter categories from instructions ARCHITECTURE SOCIAL HISTORY. EDUCATION Period of Significance 1845-1947 Significant Dates 1845, 1931 Significant Person (Complete if Criterion B is marked above) Cultural Affiliation Architect/Builder Unknown 9.
Quoted from the National Register nomination
for reference 98000122, 25 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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