independence-avenue_0012 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 12 INDEPENDENCE AVE. 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. 12 Independence Avenue is a 1 %-story,gablefront, clapboarded dwelling which dates to the late 19th century but has seen a number of alterations since that time. The building has simple cornerboards and overhanging eaves that end in returns. The sidehall entrance is sheltered by a later enclosed vestibule and the opening next to the front door now contains a modern bay window. A single-story addition to the west of the gablefront is set on a concrete foundation. Windows contain 2/2 sash. HISTORICAL NARRATIVE Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s)the owners/occupants played within the community. Independence Avenue does not appear on the 1853 map but was laid out shortly thereafter. This property is lots 4 & 5 of the Bowman Tavern Estate subdivided by Nathaniel Flint in 1855. The house was constructed prior to the 1875 map which labels it as being owned by A. Childs. Augustus Childs(1818-1895) served as the postmaster at East Lexington from 1867 to 1895. The house was later owned by Mrs. Jane Hanscom. Her estate is shown as the owner on the 1906 map. The property was sold by Kathryn McCune to Vernon and Florence Page in 1926. Florence Page Sweet still owned the property in 1975. It later passed through various members of the Sweet family who sold it to the present owner in 1985. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Hudson, Charles. History of Lexington, Massachusetts,vol. 2,p. 108. Lexington Directories,various dates. Middlesex County Registry of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass. U.S. Census,various years. Worthen, Edwin B. Tracing the Past in Lexington, Massachusetts. New York: Vantage Press, 1998. 1853, 1875, 1889, 1898, 1906 maps Continuation sheet 1