Princeton, Massachusetts

The Princeton Center Historic District is a historic district encompassing the 19th century center of Princeton, Massachusetts. The district is centered at the junction of Hubbardston and Mountain Roads, and includes the town common, town hall, public library, and First Congregational Church. When first listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999, the district encompassed 11 acres (4.5 ha), and included only the common, town hall, and library; it was expanded in 2006 to 165 acres (67 ha), and included much of the village of Princeton Center.

The Russell Corner Historic District of Princeton, Massachusetts encompasses a small 19th century commercial center that developed into a summer resort area by the early 20th century. Centered at the intersection of Merriam Road and Gregory Hill Road, the district includes fifteen contributing buildings on 124 acres (50 ha), which are predominantly residential in nature, and were mostly built before 1830. Some of the properties are found on East Princeton and Sterling Roads, and Bullock Lane. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.Both Merriam Road and Gregory Hill Road have been major transportation routes through Princeton; Merriam Road in particular was laid out in part along a Native American path in the mid-17th century. The oldest building in the district is the c. 1748 house of Abijah Wood at 16 Merriam Road, a Georgian house with a late-19th-century wraparound porch. The second house was built c. 1760, probably by Peter Goodnow; portions of this house survive in the building at 49 Gregory Hill Road. John Russell moved to the area in 1787, and soon afterward opened a tavern and inn. His son Charles was an energetic farmer and shopowner who was also active in the town and church; it is for him the area is named. In part through the economic activity of the Russells, a small cluster of houses and businesses arose.The village came to include a schoolhouse in 1810 (now at 43 Gregory Hill Road), and by 1830 eight buildings stood near the intersection, all but one of which still stand. The village was largely bypassed by the resort hotel developments that grew in other parts of Princeton, but smaller scale development of summer residences, including conversion of some of the older buildings, took place in Russell Corner.

Fernside, or the Vacation House for Working Girls, is a historic former resort hotel at 162 Mountain Road in Princeton, Massachusetts. It is a complex of three buildings: its main house, a barn that was converted into a playhouse, and a two-car garage. The core of the main house is a Federal style house built in 1835 by Benjamin Harrington. The house was converted for use as a summer hotel around 1870, and in 1890 it was acquired by the Working Girls' Vacation Society as a place to provide summer recreation for city working women. It is around this time that wings were added to the house, and the barn was converted to a playhouse. The property was used by the Society until it was sold in 1989. The facility is now owned by McLean Hospital, who used it as a drug treatment center.The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. It is the best-preserved surviving resort hotel of several that were built in Princeton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and may be the oldest resort catering to working women in the nation.

Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary is a 1,135 acres (459 ha) wildlife sanctuary located in Princeton, Massachusetts, owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Charles T. Crocker III donated 600 acres of land along with several buildings to Mass Audubon in 1956. The former farmstead includes a nature center, 12 miles of trails through woodlands, wetlands, and meadows, and a large pond with canoe rentals in season.

Wachusett Mountain State Reservation is a protected area encompassing 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) around the summit of Mount Wachusett in Massachusetts.

The East Princeton Village Historic District is a historic district encompassing a 19th-century industrial village center in Princeton, Massachusetts. It is located roughly along Main Street between Beaman and Leominster Roads, and extends a short way along Leominster and Gleason Roads. The village grew up around the Keyes Brook, which was used as a power source for mills in the mid-19th century, particularly the successful Stuart Chair Factory which was established in 1841.The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

Wachusett Mountain is an alpine ski area in the northeastern United States, located on Mount Wachusett, in the towns of Princeton and Westminster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It has 25 trails served by eight lifts, including three high-speed chairlifts and four magic-carpet lifts, and a triple chairlift. There is a weekend shuttle service to and from a MBTA commuter stop in nearby Fitchburg.Wachusett Mountain has 100% snow-making capacity, and also has night skiing on most of its trails. The mountain is located in the Northeastern part of Massachusetts, with the closest major city being Worcester.

The Four Corners–Goodnow Farm Historic District of Princeton, Massachusetts encompasses a rural agricultural area with well-preserved buildings dating from the 18th to 20th centuries. It is located in the western part of the town, and is centered on the junction of Old Colony, Gates, and Thompson Roads. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

Redemption Rock is a colonial-era historic site in Princeton, Massachusetts. In 1676, during King Philip's War, the release of Mary Rowlandson (the wife of a Puritan minister) from her Native American captors was negotiated atop a granite ledge. The .25-acre (0.10 ha) parcel upon which the rock stands was acquired by the land conservation non-profit organization The Trustees of Reservations in 1953, and is open to the public.Rowlandson would later write about her experience in A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, considered a seminal work in the American literary genre of captivity narratives. Redemption Rock is located off Massachusetts Route 140, near Wachusett Mountain.

The Willard-Fisk House is a historic farm property at 126 Whitney Street in Holden, Massachusetts. The farmhouse, built about 1772, is one of the oldest houses in Holden, and one of its oldest brick houses. The property also includes a 19th-century barn and several 20th-century farm outbuildings. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996, where it is listed at 121 Whitney Street.

The Manning-Ball House is a historic house at 370 Manning Street in Jefferson, a village of Holden, Massachusetts. It is estimated to have been built c. 1790, and is a well-preserved vernacular four-bay Cape style house. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 13, 1995.

The Ahijah Wood House is a historic house in Westminster, Massachusetts. The two story brick Federal style house was built in 1795 by the son of an early settler, and is a rare example of a Federal period house with a hipped mansard roof. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 (where it is incorrectly listed at 174 Worcester Road).