HomeMy WebLinkAboutoakland-street_0025 AREA I FORM NO.
FORM B - BUILDING
H 377
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
- i Lexington
r
-ess 25 Oakland Street
� \ _
toric Name Theodore Parker Robinson
i -= h}D us
I, g Present residential
�, •"� -= Original residential
'SCRIP ION:
•�. 1887
-ource Lexington Minute Man, Sept. 23, 1887
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style Shingle Style
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect A,
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all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric shingles
Indicate no '
Outbuildings
O� � o Major alterations (with dates)
s
s
v
Moved Date
�0
Approx. acreage •8 A. (34.128 ft.2)
Recorded by Anne Grady Setting Meriam Hill; residential street
Organization Lexington Historical Commission of substantial late nineteenth century
Date March, 1984 houses.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This is one of the finest Shingle Style houses in Lexington. A successful
composition of jutting eaves and overhangs supported by curved shingled brackets
and arched openings, with overall wall finish of staggered butt shingles, this
house is an interesting accent on Meriam Hill where most of the houses are
Queen Anne or Colonial Revival. Abram C. Washburn was the builder of this house.
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 by Theodore Parker Robinson, member of one of two
prominent families of that name in Lexington. He was the nephew of Simon W.
Robinson, after whom the local Masonic Temple was named, and son of George W.
Robinson, Boston provisions merchant and president for many years of the
Lexington Savings Bank. T.P. Robinson spent part of his adulthood on the
island of Mauritius, but returned to live in Lexington and became a clerk in
Boston.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 587. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Lexington Minute Man, September 23, 1887.
Worthen, Edwin B. "George Slept -- Where?" Lexington Minute Man, November 13,
1969.
1889 atlas
1906 atlas
1887 Directory
IOM - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Town Property Address
LEXINGTON 25 OAKLAND ST.
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area(s) Form No.
MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING
220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD 377
BOSTON,MASSACHUSETTS 02125
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
This house was one of a handful of dwellings constructed on Meriam Hill in 1887 (see also 14, 16, 20 &23 Oakland
Street). David W. Muzzey sold the land to Theodore Robinson in July(Minute-man,July 22, 1887). Abram C.
Washburn began construction of the house in September(Minute-Man, Sept. 23, 1887).
Theodore Robinson lived here with his wife Rebecca(Munroe)and daughter Theodora. Mrs. Robinson died in 1906 and
Theodore died in 1909. Miss Robinson lived here briefly with a female companion before marrying Rev. George Ballard
in 1911.
By 1918 the house was owned and occupied by Alton Hathaway who operated a wholesale bakery in Cambridge and
lived here with his wife, four children and a maid. Hathaway still owned the house in 1942.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Lexington Directories,various dates.
Lexington Minute-Man, July 22, 1887; Sept. 23, 1887;Nov. 17, 1906;Nov. 6, 1909.
Middlesex County Register of Deeds, Cambridge,Mass.
U.S. Census Records, 1900-1930.
Supplement prepared by:
Lisa Mausolf
June 2009