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BUILDING FORM (24 Shirley Street) <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of the building in terms of other buildings within the <br /> community. <br /> Located at the southwest corner of Shirley and Sargent Street, 24 Shirley Street is a two-story, gablefront dwelling which <br /> dates to the early 20th century. The clapboarded dwelling rests on a rubble foundation and is capped by an asphalt-shingled <br /> roof with projecting eaves. The gablefront is spanned by a single-story,hipped roof porch supported by turned posts with <br /> jigsawn brackets. The posts are spanned by a turned balustrade of recent construction. The sidehall entrance contains a <br /> glass-and-panel door and the two adjacent 2/1 windows also sheltered by the porch. The upper level of the facade above the <br /> porch is sheathed in wood shingles and punctuated by two 2/1 windows. Unlike those on the first floor facade,these two <br /> windows are capped by entablature lintels and framed by louvered shutters. <br /> The east elevation of the house, facing Sargent Street, is clapboarded and two bays deep with entablatured window openings <br /> including the blind window near the front. At the rear of the elevation there is a gable wall dormer with a decorative jigsawn <br /> raking over the entablature lintel. The dormer window contains a small 2/2 sash. Projecting from the west elevation is a 2 <br /> 1/2-story addition with modern fenestration including 1/1 sash and casement units. <br /> The house is located on a 7,424 square foot lot with a picket fence enclosing the small front yard. <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE <br /> Describe the history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the building and <br /> the�ole(s) the owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> The early history of this house is not known with certainty. It appears that the house is depicted on the 1906 map as one of <br /> four owned by George Tewksbury. The owner believes that the house was constructed c.1893 based in part on the discovery <br /> of new 1891 Indian head pennies in the foundation although this seems doubtful as the building occupies Lot 14 of George <br /> Tewksbury's subdivision which was not laid out until 1898. <br /> Directories indicate that Spellman, a conductor,was living at 9 Shirley Street as early as 1913. By 1918 his address is listed <br /> as 6 Shirley Street, which it remained until 1934. The house was renumbered#24 Shirley Street about 1935. Later members <br /> of the family living in the house included Mary Spellman(until about 1975), her son James, and later Walter F. Spellman,Jr. <br /> and his wife, Lau-a. The Spellman family continued to own it until 1983. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES <br /> Lexington Directories, various years. <br /> Lexington, Town of. List of Persons, various years. <br /> Legton, Town of. Valuation Lists. Assessors' Office, Town Hall, Lexington, Massachusetts. <br /> 19( Atlas. <br /> y <br /> Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attached a completed <br /> National Register Criteria Statement form. <br />