Historic Buildings of Massachusetts

66 Mt. Vernon Street, Boston (1809)

by Dan/March 20, 2009/Boston, Federal, Houses

Jeremiah Gardner was a noted house builder in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood. Builders and housewrights would often construct a row of houses, taking one of them as their fee. Gardner built the 1809 house at 66 Mt. Vernon Street for himself. In the early twentieth century, the house was the residence of Arthur A. Shurtleff, a landscape architect. Shurtleff (who later changed his name to Shurcliff) designed such gardens as the Japanese Garden at Bellarmine Hall at Fairfield University and was also involved in urban planning.

Orthodox Congregational Church, Deerfield (1838)

by Dan/March 2, 2009/Churches, Deerfield, Greek Revival

After the First Congregational Church in Deerfield became Unitarian, a group of orthodox Congregationalists separated to make their own church. In 1838, they constructed the “White Church.” The differences between the two churches were resolved in 1931 and in 1957, the White Church was purchased to become part of Historic Deerfield. It is now the White Church Community Center.

First Church of Deerfield (1824)

by Dan/March 1, 2009August 4, 2011/Churches, Deerfield, Federal

The First Church of Deerfield‘s current meeting house is the town’s fifth in succession, all of which were built on or around Meeting House Hill. The earliest of these buildings was burned during King Philip’s War. The second and third meeting houses are pictured in a sketch of Deerfield buildings made by Dudley Woodbridge in 1738. The second was built in 1682, the third in 1695. In 1952, Deerfield’s post office was remodeled to resemble the third meeting house, which was in use until 1728. The fourth meeting house, the first to have a steeple, was built in 1729 and taken down in 1824, to make way for the current church, which is known as the “Brick Church.” It was built by contractor Winthrop Clapp and was modeled on the 1819 Second Congregational Church in Greenfield. In 1807, a controversy began when the church ordained a Unitarian minister, Rev. Samuel Willard. He was succeeded by other Unitarians. Orthodox Congregationalists eventually broke away and built their own church in 1838. The Brick Church remains a Unitarian Universalist Church today.

Joseph Clesson House (1814)

by Dan/February 28, 2009September 17, 2016/Colonial, Deerfield, Houses

Today part of Historic Deerfield, the Joseph Clesson House was built in 1814, probably planned to be the ell of a larger house Clesson, who died two years later, had intended to build on the site. The house was moved moved around the corner in 1872 and replaced with a Victorian-style home. Eventually, the Clesson House was moved to Greenfield. In 1960, the later Victorian house was torn down and the Clesson House returned to its original lot in Deerfield. The following year, the house opened to the public as the home of the Henry Needham Flynt Silver and Metalware Collection. The house’s kitchen was set up as an example of a silversmith’s workshop. To accommodate the collection, a fireproof wing, made of cinder blocks, was added to the house, with its exterior disguised to resemble the original section.

Baptist Meeting House, Storrowton (1822)

by Dan/February 28, 2009April 7, 2009/Churches, Federal, West Springfield

In 1806, the members of the Baptist church in Suffield, Conn who were living in Southwick, Mass decided to form their own church, which was later formally incorporated in 1826. The Baptist Meeting House was built around 1822. It was moved to Storrowton, at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield in 1930. In 1957, the Meeting House was attached to the Atkinson Tavern to double the size of the popular Storrowton Tavern restaurant.

Atkinson Tavern (1789)

by Dan/February 28, 2009July 5, 2009/Federal, Taverns, West Springfield

Atkinson Tavern was built around 1789 in Prescott, MA as a home and tavern business for John Atkinson, a Revolutionary War veteran. In 1938, Prescott was one of four towns to be disincorporated to make way for the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir. With the Tavern’s original location acquired by the Metropolitan District Commission, Helen Storrow moved the building to the Eastern States Exposition grounds to become part of Storrowton. It is now leased by the Big E to be run as a restaurant called Storrowton Tavern.

Hall Tavern (1760)

by Dan/February 27, 2009February 28, 2009/Colonial, Deerfield, Taverns

The Hall Tavern Visitor Center at Historic Deerfield was originally built around 1760 on the Mohawk Trail in East Charlemont, not far from Deerfield. It became a tavern in the 1780s and a ballroom was added around 1800. In the early nineteenth century, the tavern was operated by Joel Hall and his wife, Lucretia Street Hall, whose embroidered blanket is in the collection of Historic Deerfield. Joel Hall, who purchased the building in 1807, also manufactured axes. In 1935, the Hall Tavern was the site of an exhibition by the Deerfield Valley Art Association. In the 1950s, the Tavern was moved to a site in Deerfield where a similar tavern, which burned down in 1799, had once stood. It is now the Visitor Center for tours of Historic Deerfield and the restored tavern kitchen is used for open hearth cooking classes. Behind the Tavern is the Cook’s Garden.