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Gardner Heritage State Park

1985 establishments in Massachusetts2017 disestablishments in MassachusettsGardner, MassachusettsProtected areas disestablished in 2017Protected areas established in 1985
Visitors Center, Gardner Heritage State Park, Gardner MA
Visitors Center, Gardner Heritage State Park, Gardner MA

Gardner Heritage State Park was a history-focused state park located in the city of Gardner, Massachusetts. The facility, which occupied a former firehouse, offered exhibits on Gardner's industrial past as a center of furniture manufacturing. Opened in winter 1985, it was closed in 2002. Following its permanent closure, the Gardner Museum took possession of the center's artifacts and historic holdings.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Gardner Heritage State Park (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Gardner Heritage State Park
Gardner

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Wikipedia: Gardner Heritage State ParkContinue reading on Wikipedia

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Latitude Longitude
N 42.577222222222 ° E -71.994166666667 °
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01440 Gardner
Massachusetts, United States
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Visitors Center, Gardner Heritage State Park, Gardner MA
Visitors Center, Gardner Heritage State Park, Gardner MA
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F.W. Smith Silver Company
F.W. Smith Silver Company

The F.W. Smith Silver Company is a historic factory building at 60 Chestnut Street in Gardner, Massachusetts. It was built in 1892 by Frank W. Smith, who had begun manufacturing sterling silver silverware in 1886. The business continued under a succession of owners until 1958. The building is locally distinguished for its late Victorian commercial style, including a tower with pyramidal roof, and stained glass windows. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.The Smith Silver Company building is located in a mainly residential area east of downtown Gardner. It is an L-shaped three story masonry structure, built out of red brick with granite trim. The main section, three stories topped by a square tower, presents a short five-bay facade to the street, and extends toward the back of the lot. A two-story ell, six bays wide, extends to the right. The tower features rich Romanesque detailing, including round-arch windows set in recesses, and is topped by a steeply pitched slate roof capped by a finial in the shape of a knife.Frank W. Smith was trained as a silversmith by his uncle, William Durgin, and opened his own shop in 1886, making sterling silver flatware. His business grew rapidly, and the present factory was completed in 1892. Smith hired Arthur J. Stone, a Scottish silversmith, as a lead designer and supervisor, and also began producing handcrafted products as well as machine-made ones. Stone left Smith in 1901 to establish his own shop. Silverware produced by the company was sold to Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Grace of Monaco.

Gardner Uptown Historic District
Gardner Uptown Historic District

The Gardner Uptown Historic District is a historic district encompassing the former civic heart of Gardner, Massachusetts. The 65-acre (26 ha) area includes the old town common, an early cemetery, and a modest number of non-residential buildings among a larger number of houses. The area was the center of civic life from the incorporation of Gardner in 1785 until municipal functions were moved to West Gardner beginning in the late 1920s. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.The focal center of the district is the old town green, and the brick Victorian Gothic First Congregational Church. The green is adjacent to a major local road junction, a small rotary where Elm, Pearl, Green, and Central Streets meet. The district radiates along these streets, with additional properties on the adjacent sections of Woodland Avenue and Heywood Street, which abut on the common and the old cemetery.Most of the buildings in the district date to the 19th century, with the majority of houses exhibiting either Greek Revival or Colonial Revival styling. Among the earliest buildings is the First Minister's House at 186 Elm Street, a Georgian/Federal house built in 1792 for Rev. Jonathan Osgood. Prominent architect-designed buildings in the district include the Levi Heywood Memorial Library Building, which was, like the First Congregational Church, designed by Fuller & Delano of Worcester, and the Syndicate Block, one of the district's few commercial buildings, which was designed by George Clemence.