HomeMy WebLinkAboutconcord-avenue_0272 AREA FORM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING T 556
i
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION f
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108 �� 6121
' t wn Lexington
fes • ` dress 272 Concord Avenue
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s storic Name wellington-Smith-Packard
-use
- e: Present residential
- - Original residential
DESCRIPTION:
<< ate 1808
x . Proceedings of the Lexington
Source Historical Society II:110
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Federal
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
p-roperty and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric aluminum siding
Indicate north.
NOutbuildings large Federal barn with
o additions
V)
C� Major alterations (with dates) two-story
CoRp m
rear addition with one-store ell connecting
original Federal barn to house; fire c. 197E
Moved Date
Approx. acreage 95200 ft.2
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes Setting on hill overlooking Concord
Organization Lexington Historical Commission Avenue; facing late 1970s street and
Date "larch, 1984 houses.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
One of the three remaining brick-ended Federal farmhouses along what was
originally the Cambridge-Concord Turnpike (see 177 Concord Avenue and 503 Concord
Avenue forms) , this is the only one with a brick end still visible. (The north
brick end has been covered by clapboards since before 1923.) Like two more
brick-ended Federal houses in South Lexington -- those at 56 Allen Street and
130 Pleasant Street (see relevant forms) -- this house has a low hip roof and end
chimne;7s, although in this case the chimneys have obviously been rebuilt. This
(see Continuation Sheet)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
- According to an antiquarian account, this house was built in 1808 by
Nehemiah Wellington, a carpenter and a first cousin of the Benjamin O. and Peter
Wellington who lived in the house a short distance east on the Cambridge-Concord
Turnnike (see 177 Concord Avenue form) . In 1817 Nehemiah sold the house to
Josiah Smith (1789-1875) , a son of the Josiah Smith in the house at 26 Blossom
Street and a brother of the Ebenezer Smith in the house at 389 Concord Avenue
(see relevant forms) . Like his father and brother, Josiah Smith was a shoemaker
and most of his customers were in Boston though he employed five or six workers
in Lexington. Josiah Smith served as an assessor from 1825 to 1827 but was most
noted as a fifer. He was known as "Fifer Si" and played for the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery= for 60 years he also played in other military bands,
traveled to many states to play, served in the War of 1812, and plaved for
soldiers in the Civil War. After Smith's death in 1875, the farm was owned by
Henry Jewett and then, in 1889, by his son Arthur H. Jewett, a farmer. The 1906
map shows the house and barn but does not name an owner. Later in the twentieth
century it was owned by Henry C. Packard and is often known as the "Packard place."
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington II, pp. 324, 638, 643-644.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913.
Lexington Historical Society Archives, Burr Church collection
Smith, A. Bradford. "Kite End." Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society
II(1900) :110-112.
1876 map
1889 map
1906 map
1894 Dirgctory
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CO VISSION Lexington 556
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 272 Concord Avenue
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
house has an unusual doorway which is not shown in a 1923 photograph and thus
is apparently a relatively modern addition as a result of which all vestiges of
-- the original Federal doorway, including the pilasters visible in the 1923 photo,
have been removed. This house is distinguished by the existence of what is
apparently the original barn at the south end. The barn, which is now attached
to the house by various additions, has been converted to a study or family room
and all the framing, including the rafters bridal jointed at ridge pole, is
clearly visible. Another much larger barn, also with bridal-pointed rafters,
is also still standing. It is three bays wide and three deep and has a one-story
shed along the north side and a two-story addition at the northwest corner.
0 �"►•"
FE
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Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Commtmity: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCMISSION Lexington 556
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name:272 Concord Avenue
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
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Staple to Inventory form at bottom