HomeMy WebLinkAboutbedford-street_0342 FORM B - BUILDING
Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 10078000115 Boston N. 779, 780
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD Town Lexington
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Place (neighborhood or village)
_ Address 342 Bedford St.
to
3J 1
Historic Name Christopher Reed House#2
F
S -Uses: Present Multi-Family Residential
Original Residential
rad 's
Date of Construction 1825
Source Lexington Valuation lists
Style/Form Federal
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Architect/Builder
Exterior Material:
Foundation Concrete
Wall/Trim Wood Clapboard
Roof Slate
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures Barn
o _
Major Alterations with dates
Side and rear additions (dates unknown)
I Lj_ Condition Good/Fair
Moved ❑ no Eyes Date ca. 1960
Acreage 3.5 A.
Nr
133d15 Setting Far back and down from a major street; next to a
,• major highway
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year) April 1998
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ❑see continuation sheet
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
342 Bedford St. (MHC #779) is one of a number of Federal houses in Lexington,but, due to its relatively recent move and many
alterations,has lost some of its architectural integrity. The house is rectangular with a rear ell, 2'/Z stories, five-by-two bays,and
side-gabled with a rear chimney. The 2'/:-story three-by-two bay front-gabled rear ell has side and ridge chimneys. The house is
set on a concrete foundation, clad with wood clapboards,and roofed with slate. On the south end of the main block is a one-story
side-gabled addition; behind it is a one-story shed-roofed addition with an enclosed entry at the rear which extends beyond the rear
wall of the house, forming a side-gabled addition. The main entry, now a double one, is enclosed; windows are 2/1 double hung
sash. The large 2'/:-story (three at the rear because it is on a slope), three-by-four bay gambrel-roofed barn (MHC#780)has a
large gambrel-roofed vent, a hay lift, a transom light over the hay door, and swinging barn doors.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ❑ see continuation sheet
Discuss the history of the building. Explain its associations with local(or state) history. Include uses of the building, and the
role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community.
This house was originally close to Bedford St.,just forward from its present location. Lexington assessors' records indicate that it
was probably built in 1825 by Christopher Reed(1792-1861),who lived in the house now at 330 Bedford St. (MHC#778) and
in the 1820s built several other houses on the street—this one and a tavern in 1822 on land where Route 128 now runs. The
assessors' records also show that in 1843 Christopher Reed sold two of his houses, this one and probably the tavern,to a Stephen
Reed, presumably a relative but not listed in the Lexington genealogy. In any event, in 1847 Stephen Reed sold this house and 44
acres to an Alvan Gage of Charlestown. Gage did not occupy the house, soon sold it, and it then changed hands frequently until it
was finally acquired in 1871 by Eliphalet S.Wetherbee. The Wetherbee family owned it until 1915, but in 20th century the house
was again sold frequently and perhaps often occupied by tenants. A 1935 plan shows the house with a long series of rear ells
connecting it with the barn, which is labeled"auto painting." When Route 128 was constructed in 1950 the house was left in its
original location close to Bedford St., but,when the exit ramp was widened in 1960,the land on which the house was located was
taken, so the house was moved back to its present position.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES ❑see continuation sheet
Bliss, Edward P. "The Old Taverns of Lexington." Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society 1 (1889): 82.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington. Revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1913. 2: 565. _
Lexington Valuation Lists. 1818-1831, 1840-1848.
Middlesex Registry of Deeds. Deeds. Cambridge, MA. 513: 327; 628: 244; 794: 84, 85; 868: 437; 886: 436; 913: 380; 1187:
655; 3978: 398; 4129: 550; 4736: 223; 4888: 473; 5716: 396; 6394: 265, 266; 6820: 424; 10914: 244; 11880: 318; 12553: 7
Sanborn Map Company. Lexington,Middlesex County,Massachusetts. New York: Sanborn Map Co., 1935. Pl. 13.
❑ Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked,you must attach a completed National
Register Criteria Statement form.