HomeMy WebLinkAboutpelham-road F O R'M F - S T R t'C', T TI R F In Area no. Form no.
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1, Town Lexington
- address Pelham Road
vTame William A. Tower Estate Gate
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,' - Present use
Present owner
- - = — 3. Type of structure (check one)
bridge pound
canal powder house
- - - dam street
fort tower
tion in gate x
tunnel
zildings, kiln wall
Indicate lighthouse windmill
other
Eoa� i. Description
,1
Date second half of nineteenth century
/i 0$�� Ua5EUM Source Hudson, II, p. 702
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Construction material stone and iron
Dimensions 6.6 feet by 8 feet
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R Setting Adjacent to landscaped grounds of the
�u� 9 former estate, now a convent.
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Condition good
DO NOT WRITE N THIS SPACE 6. Recorded by Anne Grady
LSGS Quadrant
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
MHC Photo no.
Date March, 1984
(over)
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7.. Original owner (if known) .illiarn Augustus Tower
Original use gate
Subsequent uses (if any) and dates
8. Historical significance.
Along with Tower Park across I>:assachusetts Avenue and the still-onen
grounds of the convent adjacent, this gate is a last remnant of the Iilliam
Augustus Tower estate singled out for description in Hudson's 1866 History of
Lexington:
. A stately building, situated on the high land south
of I•iain Street, it makes a fine appearance, and its cupola
commands a prospect of great extent, variety and beauty
A view of the premises, taken on the high grounds
near the edifice, affords a scene of the most pleasing
combination of nature and art; showing at once elegant
buildings, native and artificial forests, and a beautiful
pool of water. This dwelling, with all its surroundings,
has no superior in the township; and any admirer of natural
scenery would find his taste fully gratified by such a
location (p. 432) .
Tower was a very successful banker and businessman who moved to Lexington
in the 1850s. He was a member of the House of Representatives and the Governor's
Council, and was the chief rlarshall at the Lexinr_.ton Centennial celebration in
1875.
This is the only ornamental gate to survive from the estate, although
most of the wall of the estate along Massachusetts Avenue and Pelham Road remains.
The ironwork is perhaps the finest to be found in Lexington.
9. Bibliography and/or references such as local histories, deeds. assessor's records.
early maps, etc.
Fudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, n. 432. Boston: Viggin and
Lunt, 1860.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to 1912
by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, pp. 702-703. Boston:
Houghton Lifflin Company, 1913.
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