Federal – Page 9 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

3 Smith Court, Boston (1799)

by Dan/April 27, 2012July 17, 2012/Boston, Federal, Houses

Smith Court, on Boston’s Beacon Hill, was the center of the city’s African American community in the nineteenth century. The house at 3 Smith Court, a double house with a common entryway, was built in 1799 by two white bricklayers. Just the year before, a ropewalk had been demolished on the property leading to the construction of residences. By 1830, black families were renting the house at 3 Smith Court. The longest resident of the house was was James Scott, an African American clothier, who became a tenant in 1839 and bought the property in 1865. Originally from Virginia, Scott was an abolitionist who was arrested in 1851 for his role in freeing fugitive slave Shadrach Minkins. From 1851-1856, part of the house was rented by William C. Nell, a journalist and abolitionist, who led the campaign to integrate Boston’s public schools. He became the first published African American historian when he wrote Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 (1851) and Colored Patriots of the American Revolution (1855).

Dr. Reuben Champion House (1815)

by Dan/April 4, 2012/Federal, Houses, West Springfield

The house at 334 Elm Street in West Springfield was built in 1815 for Dr. Reuben Champion at the time of his marriage to Pama Stebbins. Dr. Champion was born in West Springfield in 1784 and went to school in Westfield. He set up his practice in West Springfield in 1809 and has left account books (now at UMASS) containing a chronological listing of treatment and remedies, but with very little personal information about patients. Patients could earn credit for his services by working his farm land (his homelot occupied several acres). The doctor also served as a justice of the peace and in the state senate. He died in 1865 and is buried in Meeting House Hill Cemetery, which is now called White Church Hill Cemetery. Members of the Champion family lived in the house for 163 years.

Jonathan Hodges House (1805)

by Dan/February 8, 2012February 8, 2012/Federal, Houses, Salem

Samuel McIntire designed and built the house at 12 Chestnut Street in Salem for sea captain Jonathan Hodges. It is the only documented McIntire-built house on Chestnut Street. Built as a double house with three doors and three staircases in 1805, it was altered to a single house with a Greek Revival door and entrance porch by new owner J. Willard Peele in 1845. The summerhouse in the rear of the property was photographed for the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1940.

Isaac Damon House (1813)

by Dan/January 17, 2012/Federal, Houses, Northampton

Isaac Damon, a prominent builder based in Northampton in the early nineteenth century, built his own house on Bridge Street in 1813. Today the house contains the administrative offices of Historic Northampton, with a modern addition housing a museum and gift shop.

George Whitefield Martin House (1800)

by Dan/January 9, 2012/Federal, Houses, Salem

The house at 102 Federal Street in Salem was built in 1800 for George Whitefield Martin (1771-1810). A cabinetmaker, Martin was born in Marblehead and worked in Concord, New Hampshire from 1794 to 1796. In 1797, he married Sally Bullock and moved to Salem, acquiring land for his home and shop on Federal Street through his wife’s family. In more recent times, the house was converted into three condominiums. The house’s owners caused a stir in the neighborhood when they painted the house a reddish-orange color called “Clementine” (manufactured by California Paints), which contrasts with the more muted hues of neighboring houses on Federal Street. Although Clementine is a historic color developed by Historic New England and approved by the Salem Historical Commission, some neighbors sued the condo owners in 2003, complaining about the orange glow from the house! The house still retains the Clementine paint.

Howard-Downing House (1808)

by Dan/January 4, 2012/Federal, Greek Revival, Houses, Salem

The Howard-Downing House, at 8 Brown Street in Salem, was built about 1808 by Joseph Howard, a merchant born in 1780 who was engaged in the South American trade. The house’s Greek Revival doorway is a later addition. The building now houses condominiums.

Weigand House (1824)

by Dan/December 16, 2011December 15, 2011/Federal, Houses, Natick

The Weigand or Weihgant House, at 24 Eliot Street in South Natick, was built between 1824 and 1830. It is not certain who built the house, but by the mid-nineteenth century it was owned by Samuel Walcott, a shoe manufacturer. In 1856 or 1863, Philip Weihgant, a cordwainer, bought the house. His son, Dr. Frank J. Weigand, graduated from Long Island Medical College in Brooklyn in 1900 and practiced in Richmond Hill, Queens. The Federal-style Weigand House has a front gable added later in the nineteenth-century.