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INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 59 VINE STREET <br /> MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No. <br /> 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125 <br /> 0 2277 <br /> ❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. <br /> If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form. <br /> Use as much space as necessary to complete the following entries, allowing text to flow onto additional continuation sheets. <br /> ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION: <br /> Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community. <br /> 59 Vine Street is set to one side of a small wide lot, with a modest front setback, large side yard to the right, and a straight paved <br /> driveway on the left. Maintained chiefly in lawn, the land is flat in front of the house and then slopes down away from the street. <br /> An evergreen hedge lines the front and driveway sides of the property, and concrete walks lead between the street and the front <br /> and right side entrances. The building consists of a 2 story main block with a small entrance vestibule on the front. <br /> The three by one bay main block rises to a side gable roof with a slightly off-center chimney on the rear slope. Walls are clad <br /> with artificial siding and trim. Windows have 6/6 double-hung replacement sash with no trim. The symmetrical facade has a <br /> one-story, hip-roofed entrance vestibule with angled side walls in the center and a single window in each of the outer bays. The <br /> side elevations both have a single window centered on each floor; the wall of the gable peak flares out slightly above the second <br /> story. The right side elevation also contains an offset single-leaf door near the front with a concrete stoop. <br /> Well-maintained, 59 Vine Street is typical of small, early 20th century farmhouse construction in Lexington. Although it has lost <br /> its original siding and trim, the building is notable for its historic form and fenestration pattern, angled entrance vestibule, and the <br /> flared tympanum on both end walls. <br /> HISTORICAL NARRATIVE <br /> Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state)history. Include uses of the building, and the role(s) the <br /> owners/occupants played within the community. <br /> One of the earliest roads in Lexington, Vine Street was established as part of the route between Lexington and Woburn in the <br /> 17th century. It formed the southwesterly end of this road until 1833, when the old highway was widened and straightened to <br /> meet Massachusetts Avenue. Vine Street was sparsely settled through the 19th century; suburban infill developed gradually <br /> through the 20th century. <br /> A house of similar size, proportions, and siting appears in this location in 1898 and 1906, part of property fronting on Woburn <br /> Street that was owned by John J. Roach. The 1927 map shows 59 Vine Street now on a separate lot from the Woburn Street <br /> house (number 58), and with a garage in the back left corner of the Vine Street parcel. <br /> John J. Roach was a carpenter, born in Ireland as was his wife Dora W. The 1920 census seems to place Margaret Buckley <br /> here; she was a widow, born in Ireland, and identified as a farmer. She was followed in 1922 by Thomas O'Donnell, a stone <br /> mason, and his wife Hannah. Subsequent residents included William McDevitt, who worked as a chauffeur, truck driver, and <br /> fireman, and his wife Catherine (1935); both were born in Ireland. The McDevitt family lived here until at least 1955, when Mary <br /> E. McDevitt, a teacher, was identified here with Catherine. By 1965, the house was occupied by Thomas J. Clinton, a lab <br /> technician, and his wife Loretta L. <br /> BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES <br /> Historic maps and atlases: Walling 1853; Beers 1875; Walker 1889; Stadly 1898; Walker 1906; Sanborn 1908, 1918, 1927, <br /> 1935, 1935/1950. <br /> Continuation sheet I <br />