The Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood is a residential historic district in Southbridge, Massachusetts. It consists of seven three family houses built by the owners of the American Optical Company to provide housing for their workers.[2] The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.[1]
Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood | |
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| Location | Twinehurst Place, Southbridge, Massachusetts |
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| Coordinates | 42°4′42″N 72°1′57″W / 42.07833°N 72.03250°W |
| Architectural style | Colonial Revival |
| MPS | Southbridge MRA |
| NRHP reference No. | 89000593 [1] |
| Added to NRHP | June 22, 1989 |
Six of the seven houses are on Twinehurst Place, a short loop near the junction of Paige Hill Road and Central Street; one house has an address on Central Street but is physically adjacent to the others. The center of the loop is an open grassy area, giving a clear view of the neighborhood. All of the houses were built between 1915 and 1917, and exhibit Colonial Revival characteristics despite subsequent alteration. The typical house has a three-bay front facade, with the building entrances in the end bays, topped by a gabled pediment above. Two of the buildings have only a single entrance. Most of the buildings have three-part picture windows in the center bay.[2]
The houses appear to be somewhat typical 2+1⁄2-story two-family houses, with their gables toward the street. However, each has extended dormers sufficient to provide a full apartment on the third floor. Each unit originally had a porch on the south side, but in all cases these have been subsequently enclosed. The houses originally had wood-shingle siding, but this has generally been changed: on some of the houses it has been replaced by wider wood siding, and on others by synthetic siding. Despite these changes, Colonial Revival trim details have generally been preserved.[2]
See also
edit- Maple Street Historic District (Southbridge, Massachusetts), an American Optical housing district
- Windsor Court Historic District, another American Optical housing district
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Southbridge, Massachusetts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Worcester County, Massachusetts
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ a b c "MACRIS inventory record for Twinehurst American Optical Company Neighborhood". Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 30, 2013.