HomeMy WebLinkAboutarea-lFORM A - AREA
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION
294 Washington Street, Boston, MA. 02108
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Form numbers in this area Area letter
`y L
Lexington
E area (if any) Raymond Street
1 date or period 1870s to 1950s
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Sketch map. Draw a general map of the area indicating properties within it.
Number each property for which individual inventory forms have been completed.
Label streets (including route numbers, if any) and indicate north. (Attach a
separate sheet if space here is not sufficient)
f
N �
RAYMOND S -KEE "
Recorded by Anne Grady
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date April, 1984
(Staple additional sheets here)
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE of area.(Describe physical setting, general character,
and architecturally significant structures).
Raymond Street is a short street between Muzzey and Clarke streets. It
is characterized by houses of mixed construction date and materials. There are
several second -quarter -of -the -twentieth-century brick houses, a long low
stuccoed medical building of 1956 construction, three fine Italianate houses,
and two houses with interesting Queen Anne trim. One of these was a barn moved
from elsewhere and done over in the late nineteenth century (see photographs).
The finest house on the street is the house on the corner of Clarke Street (No.
20). It is an Italianate structure that retains its original finishes and was
built by one of Lexington's most prolific and longest -active local carpenters,
David A. Tuttle. The house at 6 Raymond Street is a mirror image of 20 Clarke
Street and was also built by Tuttle.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE of area. (Explain development of area, what caused it,
and how it affected community; be specific).
Although no documentation has turned -up, Raymond Street appears, from
the 1875 map, to have been subdivided asreal�pestate venture by Hammon Reed
(b. 1829, d. 1911) and Freeborn Fairfield "Ib. 1812, d. 1903). Reed, later
in the real estate business in Boston, and aymond owned most of the land
bordered by Clarke, Forest, and Muzzey streets and on both sides of Raymond
Street. The subdivision probably occurred just before 1872, for in that year
David A. Tuttle built mirror-image Italianate houses for Raymond (at 6 Raymond
Street) and Reed (at 20 Clarke Street). Neither man lived there, however.
Only three houses were built by 1889 and in 1898 there were six. One of these
(pictured in Kelley, p. 38) was the substantial house Freeborn F. Raymond had
Abram C, Washburn build for him and did occupy (see description in the Lexington
Minute Man, May 29, 1896).
The street is significant as one of the land subdivisions close to the
center which occurred in the late nineteenth century (like Parker Street and
Forest Street) in response to increased pressure for housing of the expanding
population. The street includes an example of the phenomenon frequently
associated with the side streets around the center. The house at 5 Raymond
Street is the barn of a Dr. Currier which was moved from elsewhere in the 189Os
and remodeled into a house.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES
Kelley, Beverly Allison. Lexington, A Century of Photographs, p. 38. Boston:
Lexington Historical Society, 1980.
Lexington Minute Man, May 29, 1896.
Worthen, Edwin B. "Notes on Houses," Worthen Collection, Cary Memorial Library,
Lexington, Massachusetts.
1853 map
.1875 atlas, 1889 atlas, 1898 atlas, 1906 atlas
2M-6/80
AREA L
RAYMOND STREET
Address
Style
Date if known) MHC Number
2 Raymond St.
Brick 4 -square
w
4 Raymond St.
Brick 4 -square
f Zp
5 Raymond St.
Colonial Revival (former barn)
moved in 1890s from 21 Muzzey St.
6 Raymond St.
Italianate (built
David A. Tuttle),
1872
7 Raymond St.
Queen Anne
:'; w t
8 Raymond St.
Queen Anne
20 Clarke St.
Italianate (built by
David A. Tuttle)
1872 446
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET
MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL CC?+1ISSION
Office of the Secretary, Boston
Community: Form No:
Lexington L
Property Name: Raymond Street
Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
Staple to Inventory form at bottom