HomeMy WebLinkAboutwaltham-street_0673 FORM B — BUILDING AREA FORM N0.576
i
KkSSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
iwn Lexington
- -
[dress 673 Waltham Street
storic Name A. Bullock House
— - _wo-- M
- -- ie: Present residential
Original residential
DESCRIPTION:
ite third quarter of nineteenth century
Source 1853 and 1876 maps
SKETCH MAP
Show property's location in relation Style ver-nacu-lar
to nearest cross streets and/or
geographical features. Indicate Architect
all buildings between inventoried
property and nearest intersection. Exterior wall fabric clapboards
Indicate north.
Outbuildings none
ALAN sTT Major alterations (with dates)
Moved Date
O J
4
3 Approx. acreage 46088 ft.2
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes Setting Few houses in the immediate area,
Organization Lexington Historical Commission but considerable traffic; this house backs
Date February, 1984 onto large area of open farmland.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
This house and the one at 643 Waltham Street appear to have been built
as a pair and are the only farmhouses dating from the third quarter of the
nineteenth century on Waltham Street between Marrett Road and Concord Avenue.
Both houses are distinguished by the identical ornate brackets under the front
door hood that are of a style popular from 1865 to 1875. Both houses also
have an identical three-sided bay window on the front and a similar gable-end
profile, butthis house is twice as long as the one at 645 Waltham Street.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (Explain the role owners played in local or state
history and how the building relates to the development of the community.)
This house first appears on the 1876 map. At that time. it was owned by
an A. Bullock and the "twin" house at 643 Waltham Street by an A.E. Bullock,
making it very likely that the two houses were constructed at the same time
for members of the same family. Sometime between 1876 and 1889 the house was
bought by David Ray, a ropemaker from Revere, and became the site of Lexington's
only ropewalk. According to a later account, Ray built a shed 350 feet long
with a head house 30 by 40 feet; the factory also included a tar kettle 12 feet
in diameter and 6 feet deep supported by a brick wall with a 12 to 15 foot
brick chimney on one side. The rope made there was sold to a firm in Boston
and was mostly used on ships. By the end of the century, however, machine-made
rope had become cheaper than that made by hand and horsepower, so Pay discontin-
ued the ropewalk; in the 1894 Directory he is listed as a farmer. By 1906 the
property had been sold to Charles S. Bruce, a real estate agent; the ropewalk.
was torn down and a recent walkover failed to locate any remains.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, Volume II. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1913.
1852 map
1876 map
1889 map
1906 map
"Rope Made in Huge Walk, During Last Century." Lexington 1,1inute Man, December
30, 1971, reprinted from July 25, 1935.
10M - 7/8?
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community: Form No:
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCKIISSION Lexington 576
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Property Name: 673 Waltham Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom