HomeMy WebLinkAboutmeriam-street_0019 AREA FORA NO.
FORM B - BUILDING ( H i 381
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
wn Lexington
dress 19 Meriam Street
;toric Name McDonald House
-
Present residential
�T
Original residential
e 1887
Source David A. Tuttle manuscript
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect David A. Tuttle, builder
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric shingles, clapboards
Indicate north. l'
=� Outbuildings garage
f C
Major alterations (with dates)
Moved Date
Approx. acreage .3 A. (12500 ft.2
Recorded by Anne Gra , Setting Residential street at foot of
Organization Lexington Historical Commission Meriam Hill; houses a mix of late nine-
Date March, 1984 teenth and mid-twentieth century
construction.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
One of the more modest of the late nineteenth century P•ieriam Hill
houses, this is a house of L-shaped plan. A three-sided bay to the left side
culminates in a three-sided peaked roof which suggests an engaged turret.
Staggered butt shingles are used in the gable for texture. This is one of the
many houses in Lexington finished with clapboards on the first level and
shingles above.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
The house was built in 1887 by David A. Tuttle, prolific local builder,
for McDonai.d. In 1903 it was owned by local merchant Frederick C. Jones,who
sold newsparers and men' s furnishings, etc.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
David A. Tuttle, manuscript list of houses he built, written 1904. Lexington
Historical Society Collection.
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 19 MERIAM ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 3 81
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
Several brief notices found in the Lexington Minute-man chronicle the construction of this house. In March 1887 the
paper reported that"Mr. McElwee has purchased a lot near the Episcopal Church where he will proceed to erect himself
a residence"(Minute-man,March 25, 1887). On June 10, 1887 the paper noted that"The house being built under the
direction of Mr. Tuttle next to the Episcopal church is progressing". The house was completed about a month later and
the paper reported"The exterior of the house being built by Mr.McElwee, on Merriam street,next to the Church of Our
Redeemer, is now completed, and very attractive indeed it is. It has been effectively painted in two colors by A.L. Scott,
the painter"(Minute-man, July 22, 1887).
In 1900 Andrew McElwin sold the house on Meriam Street to Fred C.Jones. At the time it was occupied by Roger 1.
Sherman and family. Mr. Jones purchased the house as an investment and the house was to be continued to be occupied
by Sherman(Minute-man,November 10, 1900). It was later owned by Sheldon Robinson of Breck-Robinson Nurseries
from at least 1918 to 1932.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington,revised and continued to 1912 by the Lexington Historical Society.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1913.
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man,March 25, 1887; June 10, 1887; July 22, 1887;November 10, 1900.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009