HomeMy WebLinkAboutwoburn-street_0037-0039 FORM B - BUILDING AREA FORM NO.
30�
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 WASHINGTON STREET, BOSTON, MA 02108
_ wn Lexington
dress 37-39 Woburn Street
JJ�to
storic Name Merriam-Niles House
e: Present residential (double)
. - Original residential (single)
DESCRIPTION.
t e c. 1750
Source former owner
SKETCH MAP
Show property' s location in relation Style Second Period
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
s -
i I/
Major alterations (with dates) rear
roof raised; side ell
WO�NkN sTREEE7-r
from Massachusetts Avenue
Moved at Winthrop Road DateMarch 23, 1894
Approx. acreage 0.1 acre
Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholes Setting On busy street lined with
Organization Lexington Historical Commission nineteenth century workers housing;
Date April, 1984 abuts former railroad bed.
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURU SIGNIFI _,'-,N'CE (Describe important architectural features and
evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.)
Set on a busy street near mid-nineteenth century workers cottages and
vernacular houses, this double house is actually a mid-eighteenth century house
that was moved to this location. Only a few of the exterior finishes still
remain, however: the clapboards on the facade; the window caps on the four east-
ernmost second story windows; and the cornice molding at either end of the
facade. The original four panel door is stored in the basement. According to
the former owner, who is knowledgeable about historic houses, there are not
(see Continuation Sheet)
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 originally on Massachusetts Avenue at about the present
intersection of Winthrop Road. It belonged to Benjamin Merriam (1737-1806) ,
who served in the Revolution, and is one of the houses pillaged by the British
on April 19, 1775; Merriam's losses were valued at 1.223 4s. , one of the highest
in town (Hudson, I, p. 174) , so at least part of the house may have been burned,
as tradition claims. There used to be a plaque on the outside of the house
that read: "House of Benjamin Merriam, one of the Minute Men whose family fled
on the approach of the British, who pillaged the house, April 19, 1775" (Hudson,
I, p. 552) .
In the nineteenth century the house was owned by the Viles family: in
1852 by Joel Viles, a shoemaker and later a farmer, and in 1876 and 1889 by
William Viles, a farmer. The Merriam-Viles house was moved to its present
location on March 23, 1894, because Benjamin Tenney, husband of Mary Viles, had
built a new house on the Msachusetts Avenue lot (Edwin Worthen t� Eugene J.
Viano, February 7, 1941) . pee, �`i3� ',SQG`rve
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES (name of publication, author, date and publisher)
Bryant, Albert W. "Lexington Sixty Years Ago," 1890. Proceedings of the
Lexington Historical Society, Volume II, p. 57. Lexington: Lexington
Historical Society, 1900.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, revised and continued to
1912 by the Lexington Historical Society, Volume I, pp. 174, 552. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913.
Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington, A Century of Photographs, p. 35. Boston:
Lexington Historical Society, 1980.
Lexington Minute Man, March 23, 1894.
Edwin. Worthen to Eugene J. Viano, February 7, 1941. Letter on file in the
Worthen Collection, Cary Memorial Library, Lexington, Massachusetts.
1887 Directory
10M - 7/82
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET r
mity: Form No:
MASSt\CHUSETTS HISTORICAL CCHvffSSION exington 302
Office of the Secretary, Boston
erty Name: 37-39 Woburn Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. -
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
many interior finishes, either. In the eastern apartment, however, there is a
beaded chair rail and door casing, half of a raised field panel, a chamfered
summer beam, and a fireplace now covered by a wall. In the western apartment,
the original ceiling was discovered under the present one. The former had been
painted with two coats of whitewash in which there was a bullet hole with soot
still visible -- all consistent with the tradition of a British raid on April 19,
1775. On the basis of the paneling, butterfly hinges, and batten doors, the
former owner estimates the date of construction at c. 1740-1750 (Philip Hagar,
personal communication) .
Staple to Inventory form at bottom