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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON s SYLVIA STREET
<br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
<br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
<br /> 2268
<br /> The Dexter Hillside development was conceived by Nathan Dexter Canterbury(1837-1912), who in 1895 began development of
<br /> a large farm previously owned by Micajah Locke. A resident of Weymouth, Canterbury was a shoe and boot manufacturer,
<br /> founded the East Weymouth Savings Bank and two Weymouth newspapers, and served as a state representative. Streets were
<br /> given the middle names of Canterbury and his family. As reported by a local newspaper,
<br /> "'Dexter Hillside' attracted many Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe who moved from densely populated areas of
<br /> Boston to what was then a suburban outpost. In 1916, an Orthodox synagogue, Temple B'nai Jacob, was built on the
<br /> Lexington section of Sylvia Street. It served members for three decades and closed after younger generations of early
<br /> residents moved from the neighborhood, ending its unique Jewish identity." (Arlington Advocate, May 2, 2011)
<br /> The house at 5 Sylvia Street first appears on the 1898 map, under the name of B. F. Bacon, who also owned the adjacent house
<br /> on the left. The town directory for the following year contains a Bert F. and Sylvia Bacon. Mr. Bacon was a blacksmith with his
<br /> business on Sylvia Street and a house on Massachusetts Avenue, near Sylvia. In 1906, today's 5 and 7 Sylvia Street were
<br /> owned by S. C. Bennett; no information is presently known about this individual. Further research might reveal historical
<br /> connections between the two buildings.
<br /> The first known occupants of 5 Sylvia Street, in 1922, were Frederick Lundergan, a plasterer, and his wife Rose. In 1936, the
<br /> building was occupied by John McCarron, who worked in a lab, and his wife Eileen. Subsequent residents were mostly
<br /> members of the Carpenter family. They included Robert F. Carpenter, who worked in a "navy yard" (presumably the
<br /> Charlestown navy yard), and his wife Virginia (1945, 1955, and, for Virginia only, 1965), and Robert Jr., who was in the Army
<br /> (1955). Accompanying the Carpenters were Robert L. Bailey, a salvager, and his wife Lois G. (1955); and John J. Quinn, an
<br /> "attendant", and his wife Bertha (1965).
<br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
<br /> Duffy, Richard. "Sylvia and Rublee echo with family connection". Arlington Advocate, May 2, 2011.
<br /> Historic maps and atlases: Walling 1853; Beers 1875; Walker 1889; Stadly 1898; Walker 1906; Sanborn 1908, 1918, 1927,
<br /> 1935, 1935/1950.
<br /> Lexington Comprehensive Cultural Resources Survey, Period and Area Summaries.
<br /> http://historicsurvey.lexingtonma.gov/index.htm Accessed Jul 23, 2015.
<br /> Lexington Directories: 1899, 1908-09, 1922, 1934, 1936.
<br /> Lexington List of Persons: 1935, 1945, 1955, 1965.
<br /> Massachusetts Historical Commission. "MHC Reconnaissance Survey Town Report: Lexington." 1980.
<br /> Form A— Liberty Heights, LEX.Q. Prepared by Anne Grady and Nancy Seasholes, 1984 and 2001.
<br /> Continuation sheet 2
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