Colonial – Page 20 – Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

Marrett and Nathan Munroe House (1729)

by Dan/July 21, 2009January 18, 2020/Colonial, Houses, Lexington

On Monument street, facing Lexington Battle Green, is the Marrett and Nathan Munroe House, which was a witness to the Battle of April 19, 1775. Built in 1729, the house was owned by Marrett Munroe at the time of the Battle and Nathan Munroe was one of the minutemen who fought in the Battle. According to Lexington, A Hand-Book of its Points Of Interest, Historical and Picturesque (1891), “Towards this house Caleb Harrington was running from the meetinghouse, where he had been to get powder, when he was shot by the British soldiers. A bullet from a British musket passed through the window over the door and lodged in a bureau, where it still remains, in the possession of one of Mr. Munroe’s descendants living in Chicopee, Mass.” The house was moved slightly when it was restored in 1915.

Hancock-Clarke House (1698)

by Dan/July 20, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Lexington

The Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington began as a small parsonage, built by the Reverend John Hancock in 1698. It was enlarged by his son Thomas, a wealthy Boston merchant, in 1738. The minister’s grandson was the John Hancock who signed the Declaration of Independence. The Reverend Jonas Clarke, Rev. Hancock’s son-in-law, occupied the house when he succeeded Hancock as minister in Lexington. Rev. Clarke was an inspiring figure for the Patriots during the period leading up to the Revolutionary War. On the evening of April 18, 1775, John Hancock and Samuel Adams were staying in the house when William Dawes and Paul Revere arrived separately to warn them that British troops were approaching. This historic home faced demolition in 1896, when it was acquired by the Lexington Historical Society and moved across the street from its original location. It is now a museum open to the public. In 2008, the house underwent a large scale structural restoration.

Peter Rice Homestead (1688)

by Dan/July 14, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Marlborough

The home of the Marlborough Historical Society is the Peter Rice Homestead at 337 Elm Street. The Homestead was built in 1688, on the half of his father’s original house lot which Peter Rice inherited. That year, he had married Rebecca Howe and their descendants would occupy the house into the mid-nineteenth century. The house was added to over the years and subdivided in the 1940s. It was donated to the Historical Society in 1967 and is now a museum.

Golden Ball Tavern (1768)

by Dan/July 13, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Taverns, Weston

The Golden Ball Tavern was constructed by Captain Isaac Jones in 1768 on the Boston Post Road in Weston. Jones was a Tory and, during the agitation leading up to the Revolution, he continued to serve Dutch tea, in spite of local protest. In March 1774, Patriots raided the Tavern in what is known as the “Weston Tea Party.” Jones was prominent in the community, so the Tavern remained open, but in 1775, he is known to have entertained two British spies! Later becoming a supporter of the Revolutionary army, Jones continued as a prosperous citizen after the war and his descendants continued to live in his house until 1963. The following year, the house was established as a Trust and opened as the Golden Ball Tavern Museum.

Phillips House (1767)

by Dan/July 11, 2009January 18, 2020/Colonial, Houses, West Springfield

The Phillips House was built around 1767 and originally stood on High Street in Taunton until 1930, when it was moved to the Eastern States Exposition Grounds in West Springfield to become part of Storrowton. It now houses the Storrowton Village Gift Shop and administrative offices.

Elias Hasket Derby House (1762)

by Dan/June 30, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Houses, Salem

The Salem house of Elias Hasket Derby was built in 1762 and is the oldest surviving brick house in Salem. It was built by Richard Derby for his son on the occasion of Elias Hasket’s marriage to Elizabeth Crowninshield. Richard Derby had made his money through fishing and trade enterprises. During the Revolutionary War, Hasket converted many of the family’s cargo ships into privateers which preyed on British shipping. Wealth amassed from these activities later funded Derby’s involvement with the East India trade, which would make him America’s first millionaire. The house was sold in 1796 to another successful merchant, Captain Henry Prince, Sr., who built the West India Goods Store next to the house around 1800. After the Prince family left the home in 1827, it had other owners and was used as a tenement house for a time. In the early twentieth century, it was purchased and restored by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities and in 1937 was transferred to become part of the Salem Maritime National Historic Site.

Wright Tavern (1747)

by Dan/May 25, 2009August 27, 2012/Colonial, Concord, Taverns

Wright Tavern, on Lexington Road in Concord, was built in 1747 by Ephraim Jones, who operated it until 1751. Standing in the center of town, it was a popular gathering place for Concord’s leading citizens. For five days in October 1774, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress met in the First Parish Church, next door, and the committees of the Congress met in the Tavern. In 1775, the Tavern was managed by Amos Wright. On the morning of the Battle of April 19, the Concord minutemen assembled at the Tavern. Later that day, the British force, under Maj. John Pitcairn, arrived and the British officers were served at the Tavern. The First Parish Unitarian Church of Concord now owns the building, which, since 1997, has been the Wright Tavern Center for Spiritual Renewal.