HomeMy WebLinkAboutblossomcrest-road_0092 AREA FORM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING W 582
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
y j -
S v >Wn Lexington
J`
E - 1dress 92 Blossomcrest Road
' - storic Name Smith-Slocum House
r ftx r - —
ft
3e: Present residential
Original residential
tF as
DESCRIPTION:
p = ate late eighteenth century
stylistic analysis; Edwin B.
Source Worthen to Mass. Hist. Comm. ,
SKETCH MAP February 14, 1966
Show property' s location in relation Style Second-Period-
to nearest cross streets and/or kj
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboard
Indicate north.
Outbuildings barn (1816)
i
W
_ J ajor alterations (with dates) two-story
E
'�--- east ell; garage with room above
o
MCR T
�ZoAt�
- 4 Moved Date
Approx. acreage 27317 ft.2
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes 0 Setting On quiet street; near 1950s and
Organization Lexington Historical Commission 1960s houses built on land formerly
Date Miarch, 1984 associated with this house.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This house is one of three surviving second Period houses in the Allen-
Blossom Street area, once a major route from Lexinaton to Boston (see Allen
Street area form; the other eighteenth century houses are at 29 Alien Street
and 26 Blossom Street) . Aside from its Georgian profile, skivved clapboards
and granite foundation, however, it has lost more of its exterior finishes
than the others and almost all of its interior finishes as well. A few
original interior finishes remain in the first floor room in the northwest
(see Continuation Sheet)
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
This house and farm is one of manv in this area owned by the ubiquitous
Smith family and the reason this part of Lexington was known as "Smith's End"
in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In this case, the
farm was originally owned by Josiah Smith (1724-1784) , who lived in the house
at 26 Blossom Street and was sold in 1785 to his son Abraham (1755-1326) .
Abraham Smith was in the Battle of Lexington and served in the Continental
Armv in 1775 and 1780. He was married in 1788, suggesting a possible date
for construction of this house, and served as an assessor in 1806. 1 After his
death the farm was owned by his sons, Oliver (1789-1875) and William B. (1794-
1867) . Oliver was an assessor in 1825 and after his death the farm was owned
by 17illiam B. 's son Abram B. Smith. The latter is listed in the 1867 Directory
as a farmer; in 1905 the farm was owned by a William E. Carter, a manufacturer
at the Boston Upholstery Company in Boston. Later in the twentieth century
the farm was owned by the Slocums and is still known as the Slocum place.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington II, pp. 639-640, 644, 647.
Boston: Houghton 1ifflin Company, 1913.
Lexington Historical Society Archives - Burr Church collection
Smith, A. Bradford. "Kite End" (1891) . Proceedings of the Lexington Historical
Society 11(1900) :115.
1889 map
1906 map
1887 Directory
1906 Directory
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Commt.mity: Form No:
MASSAMUSETTS HISTORICAL CCMMISSION Lexington 582
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 92 Blossomcrest Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
corner, however: the post/plate/girt framing visible in one corner, a simple
chair rail, and a four-panel Georgian door with simple paneling and molding.
The present owner, a builder, also says that purlins are definitely part of
the roof framing. The long ell on the east was apparently added at different
times, though it is built very close to the ground and the foundation is hard
to see. The entire ell, however, is shown in a 1926 photograph. Another
1920s photo shows a carriage house, now gone, between the house and barn.
The distinctive three-by-five bay barn with its narrow cupola is clearly
- dateable: it has "Built 1816" painted on a horizontal beam and a bridal joint
at the ridge pole.
14114
- = 1
j =
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
u.ASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCH,,ffSSION Lexington 582
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name:92 Blossomcrest Road
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
w
Staple to Inventory form at bottom