HomeMy WebLinkAbouthancock-street_0009 NK. Iyidiv. INttL
AREA FORIM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING s�
B
Ir/V'C.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
_ r n Lexington
ti + ress 9 Hancock Street
TA
'- toric Name Garrity House
Present Residential
Original Residential
- _ ESCRIPTION:
- _ e c . 1830
Al Nei ource Family letter
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Federal/Greek Re.'i-. al
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboard
Indicate north. . C.Z
Outbuildings carriage house (see phctc
a
ffr?f AA
^ `d Major alterations (with dates)
' (�.r+tt� �,�.• N
1-840-1845: lean-to addition to
North to fill in the ell;
p .,f c . 1910 : one-story gable-roofed
addition at East end.
Carriage hse . moved
Movedbk fr.. Hancock St Date 1913
Approx. acreage 19,500
Recorded by Setting Located at the North corne--
Anne
Uraa.3t
Organization Garrity House Committee of Buckman Tavern property, Garr_
own of Lexington
Date January 30 , 1983 House and carriage house are na_r
of a set of period buildings sur--
rounding Lexington' s Battle Green-
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCIiITECI'URAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of ,other buildings within the community.)
The Garrity House is a transitional Federal/Greek Revival vernacular
structure . A simplified Greek Revival frontispiece is the only exterior
ornamentation. Picturesque massing, the use of skived clapboards , and
the survival of old sash, shutters, and a substantial amount of early
hand-blown glass contribute to the historical character of the building.
The reduced scale of the building as compared to other structures ,
historical and contemporary, in the vicinity and its proximity to the
street (unusual for Lexington) , are other factors, in its visual appeal.
HISTORICAL, SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state (e ont. )
history and how the building relates to the development of.the community.)
The Garrity House was constructed in the 1830s by Col. John Parkhurst
Merriam who incorporated one of more earlier outbuildings into the
structure . The Garrity House , the adjacent carriage house (built c.1810) ,
and the Buckman Tavern are the last surviving structures of what was
in the 19th century a prosperous twelve-building farm complex known as
the Meriam Farm. Purchased with the tavern and the land comprising
Buckman Park in 1913 from the Meriam Family by the Town of Lexington,
the Garrity House was , until 1957, the home of Mr. Jack Garrity,
Lexington;'s Park Commissioner. From 1958 until 1978 , the building
housed the local chapter of the American Red Cross .
The Garrity House is , in its simplicity and picturesque massing,
r=-= �__n _give of many farm buildings constructed in Lexington i n the
18t-h and 19th centuries . Few of such modest scale survive today.
Because of its prominent location next to the Battle Green, the Garrity
House is an effective reminder of Lexington' s past as a simple farming
c o=unity.
During the time that the Normal School was operating across the street after 1939
four female students kept house here while attending classes.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Anbinder, Eleanor, et al. . Renort on the Garrity House , Lexington,
Mass . Architectural and Social History, Existing Conditions ,
and Recommendations for Restoration and Reuse, 1981 . Boston
University course paper.
Brown, Willard D. The Story of Buckman Tavern. Lexington Historical
Society, Lexington, MA , 1967 .
Carroll, Orville W. . The Garrity House , An Architectural Analysis ,
July 27, 1981 . ReAort to Garrity House Committee .
Kinch, William B. . Memorandum of June 2, 1981 to the Garrity House
Committee on Examination of the Garrity House , May 2, 1981 .
Lriffing, Abbie Stetson. Letters to Dr. Tilton, December 19, 1913,
December 28 , 191 and January 5 , 1914, (Lexington Historical
Society Archives.
Hudson, Charles . History of the Town of Lexington. Middlesex County,
Massachusetts , from its First Settlement to 1868, Vol. I .
The Riverside Press , Cambridge , MA , 1913- (cont. )
10t - i/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CM1ISSION Lexington
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: Garrity House
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being *continued below.
Most important, however, is its role with the carriage house in
providing picturesque closure at the Northeast perimeter of the
- Battle Green.
The carriage house , an equally simple structure , appears from
construction characteristics to have been built c . 1810 . There are
three sets of doors , two with a characteristic Federal elliptically-
arched frames .
BIBLIOGRAPHY/REFERENCES
Kelly, Beverly. Lexington: A Century cf Photographs . Lexington
Historical Society, Lexington, T4,A, 1980 .
Lexington Historical Commission. The Garrity. House . Hancock Street,
Lexington: Sip-nificance , Physical Condition. Ideas for Reuse .
July 17, 1980. Report to Selectmen of Lexington.
Worthen, Edwin B. . Buckmen Tavern,__An Account of the Land and the
House . its Ownership,- Develolpment and Restoration. Lexington
Historical Society, Lexington, MA, 1963-
Reminiscences
9 3•Reminiscences of Mrs. C.C. Goodwin. Lexington Historical Society archives,
Lexington, MA.
Records of the Garrity House Committee, Anne Grady, Chairman.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom