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INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address Lexington 168 East St. MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 717 BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 HISTORICAL NARRATIVE (continued) eventually acquired in 1833 by Hammond A. Hosmer,who had moved to Lexington from Boston in 1827 and was apparently quite wealthy,for in the early 1830s he held mortgages for many Lexington properties. Hosmer already had a farm so probably rented this house out;he eventually combined the Blodgett property with some others he acquired south of East St. into a 55-acre farm,which he sold in 1841 to James Bailey(1792-1865). James Bailey, a son-in-law of David Simonds in the house now at 42 Adams St. (MHC#704),had lived in Lexington in the 1820s and 30s but was living in Concord at the time he bought the East St. property. In 1842 James was assessed for a house, barn, and 65'/, acres of land (he also owned 9'/2 acres of woods that abutted the house lot). After James' death in 1865,his property was auctioned and his son Edward B. bought all the land on the north (or, as deeds say, east) side of East St.—four acres with the house. During most of Edward B. Bailey's ownership,he lived in Waltham,Woburn, or Arlington, apparently renting out this house; in 1870, however, the assessed value of this house increased, suggesting that Edward had improved it, and he then apparently lived in it in 1873-1874. In 1877 a shop was added and in 1884 Edward B. sold the property to his nephews Edward C. and George H. Bailey, who were house painters and later formed the firm of Bailey Bros. In 1889 the Baileys built a new house on their property—the one now at 172 East St. (MHC#718)---perhaps occasioned by George's marriage in 1888, for that house was apparently designed as two identical domiciles. All of the Baileys then lived in the new house and this one was used for storage. In 1900, however,after a large elm branch fell on this house, demolishing the chimney and crushing about a third of the roof, this house was repaired and renovated and then again became the Bailey brothers' home. This house remained in the Bailey family until 1973, when it was acquired by the parents of the present owner.