HomeMy WebLinkAboutcottage-street_0004 AREA FORM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING F I 31
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON_ MA n7Ino
{ _ 1 Lexington
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original residential
SCRIPTION:
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Source stylistic analy is
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Workers Cottage
to nearest cross streets and/or r
geographical features. Indicate Aiehtt-ect •C (,,t 6LSs �um btt 1612✓
all buildings between inventoried
_ property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboard
Indicate north.
Outbuildings
Major alterations (with dates) rear
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T: Moved Date
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- Approx. acreage 3900 ft.2
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes Setting On a quiet street next to
Organization Lexington Historical Commission similar house and close to other nine-
Date April, 1984 teenth century houses.
_ (Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
See area form F.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
See area form F.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 4 COTTAGE STREET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORSSEY BOULEVARD 351
RI
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
The Lexington Minute-man on August 10, 1907 includes a reference to the construction of this house:
A.C. Washburn,the carpenter and builder, is busy this summer as usual. He is building...a cottage for Mr.
Dennis Collins, at a cost approximately thirty-five hundred dollars, located on Woburn Street.
Abram C. Washburn was Lexington's most prolific late 19th century builder/contractor. Many of his houses were built
speculatively in Lexington's best neighborhoods and included homes on Parker, Clarke,Forest, Oakland, Chandler, and
Bloomfield Streets, Glen Road, Winthrop Road, Stratham Road and Percy Road. The documentation on this house is
useful as it suggests that the total output and range of his work was probably even greater than had been thought.
Commissions for smaller cottages such as this were rarely mentioned in the local newspaper.
According to directories, Dennis H. Collins was a school janitor. The 1910 Census indicates that in that year he was 39
and his Irish born wife Agnes was 35. Also living with them were Rose and Mabel Cominskey, ages 15 and 13, and
described as boarders. The 1920 Census lists two adopted children, a boy and a girl, as also living with them. In the
1932 directory Collins is described as a janitor at the Munroe School. By 1942 Dennis was deceased but his widow
Agnes was still living at 4 Cottage Street.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Directories,various years.
Lexington Minute-man,August 10, 1907.
U.S. Census,various dates.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
March 2009