HomeMy WebLinkAboutbloomfield-street_0016 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM NO
N 478
I
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
-
R �n Lexington
tress 16 Bloomfield Street
toric Name Prosser-Gookins House
'_ tl Present residential
a 1 [ n�I $
Ori final residential
iESCRIPTION:
- - _-
�� .e 1872-1875
-;ounce deed and map research
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Italianate
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboards
Indicate north.
'7 Outbuildings garage
Major alterations (with dates)
� O \
4
Moved Date
Approx. acreage 40000 ft.2
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting Residential street, developed
Organization Lexington Historical Commission primarily in the 1870s and 1880s; some
Date March, 1984 later infill.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
There are relatively few Italianate houses in Lexington, and this is one
of the most carefully detailed. Features include a central pavilion with
first story porch, second-story rectangular bay window, and projecting wall
dormer with round headed window and heavy brackets. A rope molding trims the
front corners of the building. The windows of the facade have broad friezes
and those on the first level have projecting caps. There is a double round-
headed window in the gable. A glazed circular porch to the left rear and an
oriel window on the right hand side are probably later additions.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
Levi Prosser laid out Bloomfield Street in house lots in 1872 and named
the street after his birthplace in Connecticut. In 1875 he owned this house
and one across the street at number 29. Where he actually resided is uncertain
but this house being the more elaborate is the likely candidate. Prosser was
a member of the first board of trustees of the Lexington Savings Bank and a
selectman in 1883-1884. By 1886 Prosser had moved to Hartford, Connecticut.
In 1887, Samuel H. Gookins, a dry goods merchant, owned the house. He
was a member of the Boston Board of Trade and was on the committee .to receive
the Prince of Wales in his visit to Boston in 1860.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, pp. 246, 548.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Lexington Minute Man, October 9, 1886.
Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Plan Book 25, plan 18, 1872.
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 16 BLOOMFIELD ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 478
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The property(then known as 4 Bloomfield Street)was sold by Charles Gookins to E.Philbrick in 1908 (Minute-man,
March 21, 1908). E.M. Pbilbrick was a Boston lawyer who was still here in 1913. By 1918 the property was occupied
by Nathan Banks who lived here with his wife and nine children. Nathan Banks(1868-1953)was an American
entomologist noted for his work on mites. In 1916 he had begun work at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at
Harvard University. He is last listed as living on Bloomfield Street in the 1922 directory.
The property was later acquired by Mrs.Nancy Dusinberre who lived here in the 1930s and was still here in 1942.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Minute-man, March 21, 1908.
U.S. Census,Lexington.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathan_Banks
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
March 2009