HomeMy WebLinkAboutmassachusetts-avenue_0703 FORM B - BUILDING In Area no. Form no.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION E 214
Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston
OC, ,5
wn Lexington
dress 703 Mass. Avenue
me Brick store
Real Estate Agency
,, --�----_-`_=------=;- a se nt use
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sent owner B. Tillinghast
1
scription:
1828
- Source
to Rd 1►l��.�
4. Map. Draw sketch of building location Architect
in relation to nearest cross streets and
other buildings. Indicate north. Exterior wall fabric brick
Outbuildings (describe)
Other features Five bay wide, 3 deep, two
doors, 1 at each end of front facade
foundation
Altered YesDate c 1940
Moved Date
-----1----- X 5. Lot size:
One acre or less x Over one acre
Approximate frontage 150'
E `
�L Y Approximate distance of building from street
r' 10'
O NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE 6. Recorded by E. W. Reinhardt
USGS Quadrant
Organization Lex. Hist. Com.
MHC Photo no.
Date 7/75
(over)
20LI-5-7.47in7d
7. Original owner (if known) Eli Robins
Original use Store
Subsequent uses (if any) and dates 1836 - Post Office
8. Themes (check as many as applicable)
1
Aboriginal Conservation Recreation
AgriculLural Education Religion
Architectural _ Exploration/ Science/
The Arts settlement invention
Commerce Industry Social/
Communication Military humanitarian
Community development X Political Transportation
9. Historical significance (include explanation of themes checked above)
Built by Eli Robbins in 1828, may possibly be first all brick building in Lexington.
(Though see B-19 on green) Original use - store; 1836 first Post Office in E. Village.
(Note: Lexington Center & the East Village regarded themselves as separate communities
until the end of the 19th century.)
Descrip: 2nd floor & gable end windows - 6 x 6. 1 chimney right end, in front of
ridge. First floor altered for shop windows. 'Modern' mansard roof clapboard ell
to right rear.
10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records,
early maps, etc.)
1853 Survey Map
Proceedings of Lex. Hist. Soc. - Vol II
J. G. Hale, 1830 Map of Lex.
3/73
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CUM SSION E-214
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 703 Massachusetts Ave.
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Brick Store - East Village*
One of the oldest brick structures in town, this.building was erected in
1828 for Eli Robbins. Always used for commercial purposes on the street level,
the second floor contained a good-sized meeting room with access from the
outside stairway on the westerly side. In the 1880's, the East Lexington Branch
Library was here on the second floor.
In 1836 the East Lexington branch of the Post Office opened in this
building, and remained here until 1867, when Augustus Childs was appointed
Postmaster and moved the Post Office to his store nearer Curve St.
Following Eli Robbins, Billings Smith operated a grocery store 'here for a
few years, succeeded in turn by Rufus Holbrook in the 18801s. A few people
still remember with a smile one of East Village's most fun-loving characters,
who worked here as a clerk at that period, - Peter T. Gillooly.
By 1900, the business had changed hands once again, and Lucius A. Austin
was the proprietor, stabling his horses in the attached barn. . . . A clerk in
the Brick Store, Edgar W. Harrod, eventually took over its ownership, running it
for some years as a general store with everything from kerosene to hardware.
"Harrod's", as older residents still remember it, continued in business until
(his death in 1928] . . . .
*Written by S. Lawrence Whipple, from sources in the archives of the Lexington
Historical Society. (Published in a brochure for the Lexington Arts and Crafts
Society, about 1972.)
Staple to Inventory form at bottom