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HomeMy WebLinkAboutarea-fFORM A - AREA j Form numbers in this area 301-364 Town Lexington Area letter Name of area (if any) Woburn Street Cbi-feNcy, 3t.0 General date or period nineteenth to twentieth century E1ea indicating properties within it. inventory forms have been completed. any) and indicate north. (Attach a separate sheet if space here is not sufficient) See attached map Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes Organization Lexington Historical Commissior Date Anril, 1984 (Staple additional sheets here) 1 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE of area. (Describe physical setting, general character, and architecturally significant structures). The Woburn Street area is an -architecturally cohesive neighborhood of nineteenth century working-class housing. Comprised of closely spaced dwellings of similar scale and building materials, houses range from one -and -a -third to two -and -a -half stories in height. The area is significant as one of the largest concentrations of workers houses to survive in the western suburbs of Boston. This is the only locus in Lexington where buildings of this scale survive in numbers. Ever since it was laid out on this route in 1832, Woburn Street, today the heavily trafficed major street east from Lexington Center, has been the site of small workers cottages and vernacular houses. Cottage Street, an aptly -named quiet back street, and Vine Street, a narrow hilly street which brackets Woburn Street, form a part of the same visually cohesive neighborhood and experienced the same development pattern. (see Continuation Sheet) HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE of area. (Explain development of area, what rinsed it, and how it affected community; be specific). A road from Lexington Center to Woburn has existed since the seventeenth century: there is a 1696 reference to Woburn Street as a "lane," and another indicating that Woburn Street superseded Vine Street in 1718 (Worthen 1946:22, 25). A different account, however, says that Woburn Street was where Vine . treet now is until 1832 when the present Woburn Street was laid out (Lexington pnute Man, n.d.). Soon after this date, Woburn Street became a locus of small cottages. Although more research is needed to establish what factors contributed to the development of the Woburn Street area as a working-class neighborhood, it is clear that by 1852 there were the four existing Greek Revival cottages on Woburn Street (at 44, 66, 76, and 147) an some small workers cottages on Vine Street (at 28, 116, and 121). The major development of the Woburn Street area seems to have occurred after about 1855, however. By 1875 the north side of the street from the intersection of Vine Street opposite the west end of Cottage Street was lined with small houses (at 61, 63, 64, 67, 79, 71, and 75) and from the present 85 Woburn Street to the east intersection with Vine Street (at 85, 91, 103, and 107). In addition, Cottage Street had been laid out and cottages built on its south side (at 8, 10, 14, 20, 22, and 26). The Woburn Street area is important not only because of this concentration of working-class housing but also because of who lived in these houses. Beginning probably around 1855 but certainly by 1875, the vast majority of the residents in the Woburn Street area were Irish. Irish Immigrants had begun moving to Lexington in the 1850s to work as laborers on farms and in other BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Volume Lewis and Company, 1890. Lexington Minute Man, article on Woburn Street, n.d. Reinhardt, Elizabeth. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Boston University. (see Continuation Sheet) I. Philadelphia: J.W. Worthen, pp. Edwin B. A Calendar Historyof Lexington, Massachusetts 1620-1946, 22, 25, 66. Lexington, MasSIChusetts: Lexington Savings Bank, 1946. (see Continuation Sheet) 2M-6/80 1 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMSSICW Office of the Secretary, Boston COMMUnity: Lexington Property Name: Form No: Woburn Street Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued belaw. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE The Woburn Street area, perhaps because it was a modest neighborhood, was the section to which many older houses, at least one of them pre-Revolutionary, were moved to make way for new buildings or street widenings in other parts of town. Thus the Woburn Street area is architecturally significant not only because of the workers houses, but also because of the houses movedtere from elsewhere. Most of the workers cottages and vernacular houses are discussed in this area form grouped by building type; particularly important vernacular buildings and houses that have been moved to Woburn Street are discussed on separate building forms. Greek Revival. Greek Revival houses are at 44, 66, 76, and 147 Woburn Street. They are all small cottages and are characterized by granite or brick foundations and some Greek Revival elements. The house at 44 Woburn Street has a brick foundation and is set with its gable end perpendicular to the street. It was originally three bays wide and one deep with a full entablature on the side and a center side entrance with full sidelights. The other Greek Revival cottages are the more typical gable -end -to -the -street, three -bay -wide, two rooms deep and side hall plan. Sixty-six Woburn Street, on a granite foundation, has lost most of its exterior finishes but still retains the transom and sidelights around the doorway; the two-story ell at the rear has fluted pilasters at the corners of the porch. Seventy-six Woburn Street is covered in a separate building form. The house at 147 Woburn Street is on a brick foundation and retains some exterior finishes: corner boards, frieze boards in the gable end, long front windows, and sidelights next to the door. The unusual triangular dormers are undoubtedly later additions. Workers Cottages before 1876. These cottages are on brick foundations, suggesting a construction date in the mid -nineteenth century, and are all one - and -a -third stories high. Cottages of this type are located at 48, 61, 69, 71, and 91 Woburn Street, 8, 10, and 26 Cottage Street, and 116 and 121 Vine Street. All these cottages are three bays wide and one room deep and almost all are set with the side facing the street and a center entrance (only 29 Cottages Street has a gable end entrance). Most of these cottages have their original narrow brick chimneys and some retain other exterior finishes as well: for example, 48 and 71 Woburn Street, 8 and 10 Cottage Street, and 116 and 121 Vine Street still have clapboard siding and corner boards. Almost all the cottages have additions of some sort; the one at 91 Woburn Street has a cottage -size ell on a fieldstone foundation set perpendicular to the original house. Other Houses before 1876. A variation of the workers cottage is the double house at 38-40 Woburn Street. Like the cottages, each section is three bays long and one room deep with a center entrance on the side and a narrow center chimney, but this house is one -and -a -half stories high in contrast to the one -and -a -third story cottage. Also, this house is on a granite and fieldstone foundation, suggesting a construction date in the first half of the nineteenth century; it is not, however, indicated on the 1852 map. A house with similar very narrow profile, although two stories high, is located at 65 Woburn Street. (see Continuation Sheet) St? -le to Inventory form at tom INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL 634AISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston LexingtonF Form No: operty Name: Woburn Street Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continuation sheet 2) Another variation of the workers cottage is illustrated by the houses at 67 Woburn Street, 20 Cottage Street, 22 Cottage Street, and 28 Vine Street. These are all on brick foundations, and, like the house at 67 Woburn Street, are three bays long, one rooms wide, and two stories high, though with a wider profile. They also are set with the side to the street and the entrance in the center. The house at 20 Cottage Street is a double one and that at 28 Vine Street has moldings at the tops of the corner boards. The Woburn Street area also includes larger houses built before 1876. Most of these are three bays long, one room wide, two -and -a -half stories high, and are on a brick foundation. The houses at 50 Woburn Street and 85 Woburn Street are smaller versions of this type, while those at 136 Vine Street and 156 Vine Street are larger farmhouses. It should be noted that the 136 Vine Street house was built before 1853, as were several others on this street. And, although the 156 Vine Street house was not built until after 1876, it was owned by a member of the same family as 136 Vine Street, was presumably modeled after that house, and so is included here. The house at 14 Cottage Street is another larger one with a brick foundation and three bays long, but this house is two rooms wide. Finally, there are some houses indicated on the 1876 map that have fieldstone foundations, suggesting a relatively late date of construction. The house at 63 Woburn Street is a small two -by -two bay one -and -a -third story cottage with a gable end entrance and a doorhood supported by scrolled brackets. Larger two -by -two bay houses are the two-story house at 67 Vine Street with sunburst brackets under the doorhood; the two -and -a -half story house at 75 Woburn Street with brackets under the corner returns and the porch roof; and the two -and -a -half story house at 103 Woburn Street, which has a porch with turned posts. An anomaly among the early houses is the cottage at 108 Woburn Street. The house was recently for sale and the realtors claimed the date of construction is 1812. It is not on the 1830 map and is difficult to date by stylistic analysis because the foundation is completely covered with cement and the roof framing is hidden by a false ceiling. The exterior suggests, however, that the house may once have been a shed to which a front lean-to was added. Houses built after 1876. Of the houses built after 1876, one common form is two bays long, one room wide, and two stories high. Examples are at 54 Woburn Street, 56 Woburn Street, and 39 Vine Street, all on brick foundations. Fifty-four and 56 Woburn Street have gable -end entrances; the latter has a porch with turned posts and simple brackets. Thirty-nine Vine Street is set with its side to the street and has a center entrance. The house at 17 Cottage Street is three bays long but otherwise like the rest except that it is on a fieldstone foundation. Another common type of late nineteenth century house is three bays long, two bays wide, and two -and -a -half stories high. Most, such as the houses at 107 Woburn Street, 110 Woburn Street, and 142 Woburn Street, are set with the side and thus the entrance facing the street; the house at 127 Woburn Street has a gable end entrance, however. These houses have lost most of their original (see Continuation Sheet) Stele to Inventory form at bo -t: INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET AQ-NSETTS HISTORICAL CC MISSION ° Office of the Secretary, Boston Indicate each item on Inventory form which is being continued below. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (continuation sheet 3) exterior finishes, although 110 Woburn Street has turned porch posts and a balustrade and the porch at 127 Woburn Street has Tuscan columns and a balustrade. Although all these houses have very similar profiles, their dates of construction, based on map evidence, range from 1870 to 1910. The one late nineteenth century double houses inventoried in the Woburn Street area is at 60-62 Woburn Street. It also is three bays long, two rooms wide, two -and -a -half stories high, and with a center entrance. It has scrolled brackets under the front door hood and, on the basis of evidence from historic maps, was built c. 1885. There are several late nineteenth century farmhouses in the Woburn Street area. Like those built earlier in the century they are three bays long, one room wide, and two -and -a -half stories high. These late nineteenth century farm- houses are located in the upper Woburn Street area -- at 116 Woburn Street and 128 Woburn Street. Other house types common at the end of the nineteenth century include houses two bays wide, two long, and two -and -a -half stories high. Most are set with the gable end and entrance facing the street, such as the houses at 68 Woburn Street, 124 Woburn Street, 5 Cottage Street, and 30 Cottage Street, although the house at 81 Woburn Street has a side entrance. Map evidence indi- cates these houses were built c. 1895 to 1900. Most of these houses have lost their original finishes; 124 Woburn Street, however, retains wood shingles and turned porch posts. There are a few late nineteenth century cottages. They are two bays wide, two deep, one -and -a -half stories high, with an entrance in the gable end. Perhaps not coincidentally, the two examples are located next to each other at 4 and 6 Cottage Street. These houses retain many original features and exterior finishes: porches with turned posts, the spindle (actually square) frieze on the porch at 4 Cottage Street, the two-sided bay window at 6 Cottage Street. Some of these finishes are repeated in the house at 43 Woburn Street: the porch with turned posts and squared frieze, and the two-sided bay window. This house is three bays long, two wide, two -and -a -half stories high, and set with the gable end toward the street. The house at 51-53 Woburn Street is also the same type, although it has lost its exterior finishes. Spindled friezes are also found on a larger turn -of -the -century house at 138 Woburn Street. This house is three bays long, two wide, and two -and -a -half stories high. it retains many original finishes: in addition to the friezes on both the front and side entry porches, there are Chippendale railings in both locations, turned posts at the side entry, and the original clapboards and corner boards. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (see continuation sheet 4) Sta-1e to Inventory form at be om INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCWISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Form No: Community: Lexington Property Name: Woburn Street Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (continuation sheet 4) occupations. Between 1850 and 1855 the number of Irish-born residents doubled and -by 1854, 21 of the 48 births in town, or 44%, were children of Irish parentage. Those Irish who could afford to rent or own their own houses soon became concentrated in the Woburn Street area, a section known as "Skunk Hollow" (Worthen 1946:66; Reinhardt 1982:212-213). More research is needed to determine why the Irish settled along Woburn Street; perhaps it was because this was already a working-class neighborhood and was also near the railway line. What- ever the reason, it is clear that by 1876 most of the small cottages and houses in the Woburn Street area were inhabited by Irish and this trend continued after that date. For example, of the 58 residents in the Woburn Street area in the 1887 Directory, 52, or almost 90%, had -Irish surnames. Their occupations were also indicative: 35% were laborers, 13% farmers, and 10% railway workers. (Of the remainder, 13% were in other occupations, 17% were housewives, and 12% did not have occupation listed.) By 1899, when Cottage Street had been extended west and more cottages built on this street as well as on Woburn Street, the area was still predominantly Irish, though, as the 1899 Directory makes clear, by that date Irish were living in other sections of Lexington as well. Nonethe- less, of the 128 persons listed in the 1899 Directory as living in the Woburn Street area, 112 or 88% had Irish surnames. Their occupations had diversified somewhat, though many remained working class: 23% were laborers, 9% railway workers, 7% farmers, and 4% factory workers. If names on properties in the atlases accurately reflect ownership, many of the houses in the Woburn Street area were owned by Irish as early as 1875. An 1890 account of the Lexington Savings Bank established in 1871, albeit self congratulatory, may indicate one of the reasons ownership was possible. The investments are chiefly in mortgages and real estate . . • . Many of the depositors are laboring men and girls at service in families. As a means of encouraging habits of industry and forethought, the savings bank has had a most salutory influence. In this way it has done much in helping laborers to buy land and make pleasant homes for themselves. A large proportion of the workingmen of the town possess such homes and are sober, prosperous and respectable people. (Hurd 1890, 1:632) A number of the houses remained rental properties into the twentieth century. It was during the period at the end of the nineteenth century, when the Woburn Street area was an Irish working-class neighborhood, that it became the place to which many houses were moved from other parts of Lexington. Again more research is needed to determine why the Woburn Street area was chosen; one can speculate that, in cases such as the old high school which was moved from Massachusetts Avenue near the Woburn Street intersection, the Woburn Street area was chosen because of its proximity (see 10-12-14 and 16-18-20 Vine Street forms). However, in other instances, such as the house at 78 Woburn Street, which was moved from the site of present-day Decelle's on Massachusetts Avenue, or the house now at 9 Utica Street, which was moved from next to St. Brigid's (see Continuation Sheet) Sta—le to Inventory form at b, 'om INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSICN Office of the Secretary, Boston ommunity: LexingtonF (Form No: erty Name: Woburn Street Indicate eachitem on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (continuation sheet 5) Church, houses were moved a considerable distance. Perhaps the Woburn Street area was chosen because it was a modest neighborhood and there was a demand for boardinghouses and tenements, to which many of these moved houses were converted_ Today, if observations made during this survey are correct, Woburn Street remains an area with many more rental apartments and houses than is the case in most other parts of Lexington. BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES 1852 map 1876 map 1889 map 1898 map 1906 map 1887 Directory 1899 Directory Staple to Inventory form at bc-tom INVENTORY FORM A CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 LEXINGTON WOBURN STREET Area Letter Form Nos. F 301-364, 666, 1593- 95, 2276-78 Woburn Street District Data Sheet of Inventoried Properties Continuation sheet 1 Assessor's Map Resource Address Style Date MHC # 47-30 Dennis H. Collins House 4 Cottage Street Queen Anne 1907 351 48-258 Vaughn House 5 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1895 352 47-31 McCann House 6 Cottage Street Queen Anne c. 1895 353 47-32 Collins House 8 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 354 48-251B Tobin House 9 Cottage Street (was 69 Woburn Street) Italianate c. 1855 319 47-33A Collins House 10 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 355 48-259A Savage House 14 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 356 48-256 Ryan House 17 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1880 357 48-260 Savage House 20 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 358 48-261 Savage House 22 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 359 48-269 Bartholomew D. Callahan House 23 Cottage Street No style 1894 2212 48-262 Buckley -Savage House 24 Cottage Street Italianate c. 1855 360 48-268 Lewis Hunt House 29 Cottage Street ? c. 1850 361 48-264 Savage House 30 Cottage Street Queen Anne c. 1900 362 48-267A William Stevens -Lewis Hunt House 31-33 Cottage Street No style c. 1850 363 48-266 Parsons -Hunt House 40 Cottage Street Queen Anne c. 1895 364 48-246 Cornelius J. Manley House 6-8 Manley Court No style 1890 1593 47-35A House 9 Manley Court No style 1906 1594 47-34 George Lynah House 15 Manley Court Victorian Eclectic 1906 1595 47-247 Dr. Leonard Proctor Double House 16 Manley Court Federal 1832 666 47-73 William Ham House 9 Utica Street Italianate c. 1870 339 48 220 Capt. Larkin Turner -Matthew Gateiy House 2 Vine Street Federal c.1790- 1800 340 48-221A First Town Hall/High School Building 10-12-14 Vine Street (Altered beyond recognition) 1846 341 48-22IB First Town Hall/High School Buildingrecognition) 16-18-20(Altered Vine Street beyond 1846 342 48-233 Hayes -Davis House 21 Vine Street Italianate c. 1855 343 DEM J. Reardon-O'Reardon House 22 Vine Street No style 1780 2276 DEM McMahan-McDonald- O'ReardonHouse 28 Vine Street Italianate c. 1850 344 Continuation sheet 1 INVENTORY FORM A CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMIISSION 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 LEXINGTON WOBURN STREET Area Letter Form Nos. F 301-364, 666, 1593- 95, 2276-78 Assessor's Map Resource Address Style Date MHC # 48-230 Manley House 39 Vine Street Italianate c. 1880 345 48-228 John J. Roach House 59 Vine Street Colonial Revival 1909 2277 48-227 Gorman -Reardon House 67 Vine Street Italianate c. 1870 346 DEM Leary House 116 Vine Street Italianate c. 1850 347 DEM Burbank House 121 Vine Street Italianate c. 1850 348 47-37 Gilman -Leary House 125 Vine Street (was 108 Woburn Street) c. 1812 328 47-46 House 132 Vine Street Colonial Revival/Craftsman 1912 2278 DEM Buckley House 136 Vine Street Italianate c. 1850 349 DEM Buckley House 156 Vine Street Italianate c. 1880 350 48-232B Davis -Connors -Mulvey House 36 Woburn Street Federal c. 1800 301 48-274A Benjamin Merriam- Joel Viles House 37-39 Woburn Street Georgian c. 1750 302 48-234 Locke -Callahan House 40 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 303 48-273 Ray House 43 Woburn Street Queen Anne c.1895 304 48-235 Noyes -Dame House 44 Woburn Street Greek Revival c. 1850 305 48-272 Keefe House 47 Woburn Street Queen Anne c. 1895 306 48-236 Manley House 48 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 307 48-237 Manley House 50 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 308 48-270 Harrison House 51-53 Woburn Street Queen Anne? c. 1900 309 48-238 Manley -White -Mansfield House 54 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1880 310 DEM White -Drury House 56 Woburn Street Italianate? c. 1880 311 DEM White House 60-62 Woburn Street Italianate (Double) c.1885? 312 DEM Ryan House 61 Woburn Street Italianate? c. 1855 313 48-253 Ryan House 63 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1870 314 48-252 Welsh House 65 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 315 48-241 J. Smith -Reed -Roach House 66 Woburn Street Greek Revival c. 1840 316 48-251A Tobin House 67 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 317 DEM Roach House 68 Woburn Street Italianate? c. 1885 318 48-250 Vaughan House 71 Woburn Street Italianate? c. 1855 320 48-249 Manley House 75 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1870 321 Continuation sheet 2 INVENTORY FORM A CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMIVIISSION 220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 LEXINGTON WOBURN STREET Area Letter Form Nos. F 1301-364, 666, 1593- 95, 2276-78 Continuation sheet 3 Assessor's Map Resource Address Style Date MHC # 48-244 Darius Fillebrown-Canfield House 76 Woburn Street Greek Revival 1827 322 48-245 Joshua Russell Shoe Shop 78 Woburn Street c.1800 323 47-27 Leary House 85 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1855 324 DEM Ganagan-Gargan House 91 Woburn Street Greek Revival? c. 1855 325 47-22B Haley House 103 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1870 326 47-21B Cowley -Reedy House 107 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1870 327 47-38 House 110 Woburn Street Italianate c.1910? 329 47-50 Rogers -Conners House 116 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1880 330 47-50 House 116A Woburn Street Gambrel Barn 1930? 331 47-51 Hughes House 124 Woburn Street Queen Anne? c. 1895 332 47-20B Damon House 127 Woburn Street Queen Anne? c. 1885 333 47-52 Leary House 128 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1890 334 47-53 Alfred D. Cutler- O'Connell Kenison- House 132 Woburn Street Italianate c. 1860 335 47-75 James McCarthy House 138 Woburn Street Queen Anne c. 1900 336 47-76A McCarthy House 142 Woburn Street Italianate? c 1900? 337 47-16 A. Fiske House 147 Woburn Street Greek Revival c. 1850 338 Continuation sheet 3