Category: Colonial

12 State Street, Marblehead (1747)

by Dan//Colonial, Commercial, Houses, Marblehead

According to the sign on the house at 12 State Street in Marblehead, the structure was built in 1747 by Captain Alexander Watts. From 1776 to 1803, it was owned by John Adams, fisherman and mariner, who also kept a shop in the building. The shop was continued until 1842 by his daughters, Mary and Miriam. From 1845 to 1891, the building was a restaurant, operated by John Fisher. In 1910, J.O.J. Frost, noted Marblehead folk artist, opened a bakery in the building, which has continued to house various businesses over the years. It was restored in 1988.

Thomas Bodkin House (1729)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Marblehead

The Thomas Bodkin House is at 6 Union Street in Marblehead. In its earliest form, it was a gambrel-roofed house, built in 1729 by Thomas Bodkin, a brewer and merchant, around the time of his marriage to Sarah Rhodes. His brewery was located in a separate building behind the house. Bodkin lived in Marblehead until 1748. The house was later owned by Capt. Benjamin Hind who, around 1765, connected the brewery with the main house, which he also enlarged. Hind was responsible for laying out Union Street, which had previously been a cart path.

Capt. Benjamin Stacy House (1735)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Marblehead

On Washington Street, off Market Square, in Marblehead is a house built in 1735 for Capt. Benjamin Stacy, hatter and innholder of the Three Cods Tavern. Benjamin Stacy married Tabitha Glover. She was the widow of Jonathan Glover and her son, John Glover, who would play an important role in the Revolutionary War, grew up in the Stacy House. The house was enlarged around 1770 by John Sparhawk, a merchant.

General Israel Putnam House (1648)

by Dan//Colonial, Danvers, Houses

The earliest (rear) section of the Putnam House in Danvers was built in 1648 by Lt. Thomas Putnam. The house would go on to be the home of twelve generations of the Putnam family. During the Salem witchcraft trials, Joseph Putnam, who spoke out against the ongoing hysteria, lived on the property. Joseph’s son, Israel Putnam, for whom it’s now known, was born in the house in 1718. General Israel Putnam was a famous colonial officer and one of the primary figures at the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. In the 1850s, Daniel Putnam operated a shoe-making business in the house and in the twentieth century, the family ran a candy and ice cream shop next door called the Putnam Pantry. A number of additions were made to the house over the years, including the eighteenth-century gambrel-roofed section that is now the front facade. The Putnam family gave the house to the Danvers Historical Society in 1991.

Nathaniel Parsons House (1719)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Northampton

About 1730 (now believed to be c.1719) Nathaniel Parsons built a single-chimney house on the homelot originally laid out by his grandfather, Joseph Parsons, in 1654. At one time the house was thought to have been built by Joseph Parsons, known as Cornet Joseph, one of the founders of Springfield and Northampton, whose wife, Mary Bliss Parsons, was famously found not guilty of witchcraft by a jury in 1675. The Parsons House was gradually remodeled and expanded over time by later owners. In 1941, the Parsons House was donated to Historic Northampton and became part of the organization’s collection of historic buildings. It has recently undergone restoration. Continue reading “Nathaniel Parsons House (1719)”

Joseph Dewey House (1735)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Westfield

The Joseph Dewey House, at 87 South Maple Street in Westfield, was built in 1735 as a saltbox house. Joseph Dewey was a prosperous farmer who also served as a militia sergeant and had been a town selectman in 1726. In 1756, Dewey sold the house to his son, also named Joseph. In the early nineteenth century, Benjamin Dewey made extensive interior and exterior alterations to the family home, replacing the roof, realigning the chimney and altering the front facade in the Federal style. The house was in the Dewey family until 1856 and then had a number of other owners over the years until 1972, when a developer sold it to the Western Hampden Historical Society. It was then moved 200 feet west, restored as much as possible to its colonial-era appearance and opened as a historic house museum.

John Fenno House (1704)

by Dan//Colonial, Houses, Sturbridge

The Fenno House at Old Sturbridge Village was moved there in 1950 from its original site in the town of Canton, where it stood ouside the center village. This property was acquired by John Fenno in 1694 and either he or his son, also named John, is thought to have built the house in 1704 (although recent dendrochronological work suggests it was built later, around 1724. The house remained a Fenno family residence until 1810, when Jesse Fenno built a new home and converted the old house into a barn and storage building. It was purchased from the Fenno family in 1913 by Caroline S. Saltonstall. Later donated by the Saltonstalls to the Canton Historical Society, ownership of the house passed to Old Sturbridge Village in 1949. The house has been reconstructed several times in its history, with much of its original fabric being replaced.