Charlton Center Historic District - Charlton MA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Charlton Center came about from the home farm of Ebenezer McIntire, who settled in the area in 1733. The district was set off from Oxford, in 1755, and the first town meetings were held in McIntire’s tavern, also his home. In 1750 McIntire gave land behind his home for use as the Town Common and Training Field. The first town pound (1761) has just west of the church site and the current pound was built in 1837. The original church on the Common became Universalist in the early 1820’s leading to the withdrawal of the Congregationalists to build their own church on the south end of the village in 1827. The Universalists struggled with the financial side of maintaining the church they had, it was taken down and a new, smaller building was erected on the east side of the Common providing the lower floor would be paid for and used by the Town for a hall. This arrangement continued until 1905.The Congregationalists minority had the wealthier parishioners in their congregation than the Universalists.
Residents built on both sides of the longed Common, providing housing for upper class, merchants, tradesmen and farmers. The Common remained as the choice real estate in Charlton until the sub divisions where developed in modern times. A store and hotel were erected at the close of the 18th century and remained for nearly 100 years. Trolley service was introduced in 1903, bus service in 1927 and a new state numbered highway in 1928, moved the commercial activity of the town from the Common to a point further north.
The Overlook Hotel, was built high on the hill northwest of the Center in 1903 and in 1911 became the statewide Masonic Retirement Home. The Belleview Hotel and adjacent stores were destroyed by fire in 1885, where the Dexter Memorial Town Hall and Library is located. The Universalist Church and old High School burned in 1922 and a new High School was built in 1913. This building is used as the Town Annex now. The Universalists reunited with the Congregationalists in the used of the Elisa Carter designed meetinghouse. This building was destroyed by fire in 1939 and a new Federated Church was built on the spot in 1941.
Overall the Charlton Center has retained much of its 18th and 19th century charm as a farm town even with the influx of commuters into the area after WWII.

Street address: Roughly, Main St. from Mugget Hill Rd. to Masonic Home Rd. and adjacent roads Charlton, MA County / Borough / Parish: Worcester Year listed: 1995 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering, Event Periods of significance: 1900-1924, 1875-1899, 1850-1874, 1825-1849, 1800-1824, 1750-1799 Historic function: Commerce/Trade, Domestic, Education, Government, Social Current function: Domestic, Education, Government, Religion, Social Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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