HomeMy WebLinkAboutmassachusetts-avenue_0884 F O R T•l 11 - BUILDING In Area no. Form no.
RIASS:ICIIUSETTS IUSTORICA 11 COMMISSION E 231
Office of the Secretary, State House, Boston
n Lexington, Mass.
cess 884 Mass. Ave.
Sent use private residence
, t
;ent owner Edmund P. Hoxie
;ription:
AI
a> c . 1X34 (be.I-.). 033
4. Map. Draw sketch of building location Architect
Co
in relation to nearest cross streets and
other buildings. Indicate north. Exterior wall fabric clapboard
1� Outbuildings (describe)
Other features 5 bay wide, 1 room deep,granit
_ with sidelights, irk. fret
work, single
Altered
Sheds ell etc. Date
Moved Date
x a —
S
5. Lot size:
2 Less than one acre x Over one acre
Z Approximate frontage 75'
a
Approximate distance of building from street
jt 15'
DO NOT WRITE IN THIS SPACE 6. Recorded by E. W. Reinhardt
USGS Quadrant
Organization Lex. Hist. Com.
IIHC Photo no.
Date 7/75
(over)
7. Original owner (if }mown)
Original use
Subsequent uses (if any) and dates
8. Themes (check as many as applicable)
Aboriginal Conservation Recreation
Agricultural Education Religion
Architectural Exploration/ Science/
The Arts settlement invention
Commerce Industry Social/
Communication Military Humanitarian
Community development Political . Transportation
9. Historical Significance (include explanation of themes checked above)
Y
Active slaughtering business carved on in the barn at the rear in 19th c.
(contact owner.)
Descrip. cont: simple entablature; 2 story projecting addition w. field-stone,
foundation right rear; two story ell with door, chimney left rear-
3 bays to door, 1 story shed attached to last two bays of ell.
Two story barn attached at riF.ht angle to-fear of ell.
Windows 6 x 6.
This was'the former home of Charles Herbert Lowe (see Hudson, Volume II) , & 6L- (f_.Y
who married Elizabeth Dinwoodie, the daughter of the station agent at the East
Lexington Depot (David Dinwoodie) . Their daughter, Marion D. Lowe, married
Edmund P. Hoxie.
(884 Massachusetts Avenue was not.assigned a double number until about
1955.)
Eli Whitney was in business with Michael Horton as cobblers; their shop
was situated on the east corner of the lower end of Curve Street and Massachu-
setts Avenue.
(See Proceedings of the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 39.)
S. Lawrence Whipple, 1984
10. Bibliography and/or references (such as local histories, deeds, assessor's records,
early maps, etc.)
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Commmity: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CC IISSION Lexington 231
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name:884 Massachusetts Ave.
Indicate each item on inventory form whidl is being continued below.
I t
Staple to Inventory form at bottom
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 884 MASS. AVENUE
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 231
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This is one of a number of Asher Benjamin-inspired doorways which survive in East Lexington(see also 627, 715, 782,
870, and 1106 Massachusetts Avenue). In this case,the doorway design appears to be a fairly literal interpretation of
Plate XXVIII of the Practical House Carpenter,which Benjamin published in 1830. As Reinhardt and Grady note: "The
capitals of the pilasters are simpler,the architrave is narrower and without the three faces proposed by Benjamin,but
essentially it is the same design"(Reinhardt&Grady 1977: 31).
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This house was reportedly constructed sometime between 1833 and 1839 for Eli Whitney(Reinhardt& Grady, 1977, p.
31). Eli Whitney was married to Sally Locke in 1808 and was a cobbler.
On 1853 map this property appears to be labeled Bennett. The 1860 Census indicates that Prescott Bennett(then 40 years
old)was a milkman. He died in 1864.
According to E.B. Worthen,the property was later the house and butcher shop of Charles H. Lowe(b. 1847)who became
a resident of Lexington in 1871 (Worthen,p. 45). Lowe is shown as the owner on the 1898 map. Charles Lowe married
Mary Goodwin in 1869 and the couple had one son, C. Herbert Lowe(b. 1876)who married Elizabeth Dinwoodie. C.
Herbert Lowe is listed as the head of the household in 1920 and lived here with his wife,two sons, father and niece. By
1930 Charles was living here with C. Herbert's widow,Elizabeth. Elizabeth Lowe was still living here in 1942.
Elizabeth& C. Herbert's daughter,Marion Lowe,married Edmund Hoxie. Edmund Hoxie continued to own the house
until 1980.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington.
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
Reinhardt,Elizabeth and Anne A. Grady. "Asher Benjamin in East Lexington, Massachusetts", Old-Time New England,
vol. LXVII, nos. 3-4, Winter-Spring 1977,p. 31.
Worthen,Edwin B. Tracing the Past in Lexington, Massachusetts. New York: Vantage Press, 1998, p. 46.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009