Church Green Historic District - Taunton, MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

In Taunton, at the southeast end of downtown Taunton, is the Church Green Historic District.

The Church Green is an area that has two green spaces and buildings from various periods on and around them. The main green area is bounded by Church Green (the name of the road), US Route 44 (confusingly also called Church Green), and Summer Street. This is the traditional place where Taunton was settled in 1637, just 17 years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth to the east. A partial list of buildings included in this district include the following (a more complete list is on the Wikipedia article):

- First Parish Church (1830)
- Taunton City Hall (1848 & 1896)
- Old Colony Historical Society/Bristol Academy (1852)
- Leonard Block (1870)
- Anselm Bassett House (1825)
- And many other residences

Also:
- Robert Treat Paine Statue (1904)
- Vietnam Memorial Fountain (1968)

The first meeting house for religious and government activities was built on the green around 1647. The present building doesn't go back that far: it was built in 1830, according to the list. The oldest structure is the Anselm Bassett House. Other buildings were built in a range of years from 1825 to 1919 (not counting the fountain or statue). Each of these buildings has its own distinctive features and could have been featured as a historic landmark in its own right. See the pictures for examples.

The buildings are in various states of upkeep. The church and the Old Colony Historical Society Museum, for example, are in good condition, with no visible structural problems. At the other end, the Taunton City Hall has been condemned and is now unoccupied, and the Leonard Block building beside it is also run down looking.

Street address: Church Green Taunton, MA United States of America 02780 County / Borough / Parish: Bristol Year listed: 1977 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Event, Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824, 1750-1799, 1700-1749, 1650-1699, 1600-1649 Historic function: Domestic, Government, Landscape, Religion Current function: Domestic, Government, Landscape, Religion Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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