HomeMy WebLinkAboutbow-street-0026 FORM B — BUILDING Assessor's Number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Boston
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 13/403 North 1552
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125 Town: Lexington
Place: (neighborhood or village)
Photograph East Lexington
Address: 26 Bow Street (at Leighton Ave.)
Historic Name: Wiggins Duplex
Uses: Present: Two-family residence
Original: Two-family residence
T Date of Construction: c.1915
Source: deeds
— Style/Form: Four-Square Duplex
Architect/Builder: unknown
Exterior Material:
Foundation: stone
Wall/Trim: wood shingles/wood
Roof: asphalt shingles
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures:
Topographic or Assessor's Map none
Major Alterations(with dates):
35.4 feet
date?— new windows, new balustrade above porch
�] .400 �0 30
V 9.0,2,1'0� Condition: good
za
Moved: no x yes Date
/ 30, ski 00 26 oy Acreage: 0.12 acre
Setting: mixed residential neighborhood
q`E
S
Recorded by: Lisa Mausolf
Organization: Lexington Historical Commission
Date(month/year): May 2008
Follow Massachusetts Historical Commission Survey Manual instructions for completing this form.
INVENTORY FORM B CONTINUATION SHEET LEXINGTON 26 BOW STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD,BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
1552
_x_Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places.
If checked,you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION:
Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings within the community.
26 Bow Street is a well-preserved duplex in the Four Square style, dating to the early 20th century. It rests on a rubble
foundation and is sheathed in wood shingles. The hip roof has a prominent front gable dormer and overhanging eaves that
shelter two bay projections on the fagade. The north half of the fagade is fronted by a single-story porch supported by Tuscan
columns. The stick balustrade is of recent construction and replaces an earlier"X"balustrade. Windows contain a mix of
individual,paired and tripartite windows with 4/1 and 6/1 sash.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE
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 property comprises Lots 13 & 14 of the J.W. Wilbur Subdivision known as Massachusetts Avenue Terrace (Plan Book 182,
Plan 8). This is one of several subdivisions that Wilbur,who lived in Brookline, developed in East Lexington in the early 20th
century. What is now Bow Street,was originally known as Wilson Avenue. The lot was purchased from Jacob Wilbur by
Emma Wiggins in 1909. The deed included a restriction that no house valued less than$800 be erected. In 1916 Emma
Wiggins,wife of Ferdinand, conveyed the property to John A. Wiggins of East Lexington(Book 4053, Page 164). In 1922 one
unit was occupied by Joseph H. Wiggins, a meat dealer,while the other was rented to Howard Foster, an advertising solicitor.
The property remains in the Wiggins family today.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Middlesex South Registry of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
Town Directories
U.S. Census,various years.
Continuation sheet 1