Fort Towson

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]

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 The houses originally had wood-shingle siding, but this has generally been changed: on some of the houses it has been replaced by wider wood siding, and on others by synthetic siding.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

• 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

External links

• MACRIS Listing - 3-5 Twinehurst Pl