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1. Town Lexington
Address Pelham Road
Name William A. Tower Estate Gate
Present use
Present owner
3. Type. of structure (check one)
bridge
pound
canal
powder house
dam
street
fort
tower
gate x
tunnel
kiln
wall
lighthouse
windmill
other
�. Description
Date second half of nineteenth century
a Source Hudson, II, p. 702
Construction material stone and iron
Dimensions 6.6 feet by 8 feet
Setting Adjacent to landscaped grounds of the
q former estate, now a convent.
Condition good
6. Recorded by Anne Grady
Organization Lexington Historical Commission
Date March, 1984
7.. Original owner (if known) ItZilliam Augustus Tower
Original use gate
Subsequent uses (if any) and dates
8. Historical significance.
Along with Tower Park across Massachusetts Avenue and the still -oven
grounds of the convent adjacent, this gate is a last remnant of the F'illiax
Augustus Tower estate singled out for description in Hudson's 1868 history of
Lexington:
. A stately building, situated on the high land south
of I -lain 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 Lexincton
in the 1850s. He was a member of the House of Representatives and the Covernor's
Council, and was the chief marshall 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 lassachusetts Avenue and Pelham Road re -rains.
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.
Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Lexington, n. 432. Boston: U iggin and
Lunt, 1868.
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 T-:ifflin ('ompany, 1913. +
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