Rumford Commercial Historic District entered in National Register of Historic Places

RUMFORD — The Rumford Commercial Historic District has been entered in the National Register of Historic Places according to Kirk F. Mohney, Director of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. This designation indicates that the property has been documented, evaluated and considered worthy of preservation and protection as part of the nation’s cultural heritage.

The Rumford Commercial Historic District located in the town of Rumford, Oxford County, is significant under National Register Criterion C in the areas of Community Planning and Development and Architecture. It is one of the few planned company towns in Maine. The Rumford Commercial Historic District is also significant under National Register Criterion A in the area of Commerce. As the most intact remaining section of the historically dense commercial downtown in Rumford, the district illustrates a common pattern of retail and commercial uses in first floor spaces with office, fraternal, hotel, or residential spaces above in the taller buildings. The 33 buildings comprise a visually cohesive grouping of commercial, governmental, and institutional buildings between 1892 and 1967, which generally retain a higher degree of historic integrity.

Architect designed buildings demonstrate the influence of Italianate, Romanesque Revival, Beaux Arts, and Colonial Revival styles, with examples of the Art Deco style as well. The periods of significance for the architecture, 1892-1967, represent the earliest built date for a contributing resource within the district and extending to 50 years before the present.