BlockFrom the form
The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.
1469 OMB No. 1024-0018 RECEIVED 2280 NPS Form 10-900 (Rev. 10-90) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service DEC - 9 2003 National Register of Historic Places Registration Form NAT. CES This form is for use in nominating or requesting determinations for individual properties and districts. See instructions in How to Complete the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (National Register Bulletin 16A). Complete each item by marking "x" in the appropriate box or by entering the information requested. If any item does not apply to the property being documented, enter "N/A" for "not applicable." For functions, architectural classification, materials, and areas of significance, enter only categories and subcategories from the instructions. Place additional entries and narrative items on continuation sheets (NPS Form 10-900a).
Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer, to complete all items. 1. Name of Property historic name Winthrop Shore Drive, Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston other names/site number Same 2. Location street & number Winthrop Shore Drive _N/A not for publication city or town Winthrop -N/A_ vicinity state Massachusetts code MA county Suffolk County_ code 025 zip code 02152 3. State/Federal Agency Certification As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1986, as amended, I hereby certify that this homination - request for determination of eligibility meets the documentation standards for registering properties in the National Register of Historic Places and meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth in 36 CFR Part 60. In my opinion, the property meets -does not meet the National Register Criteria.
I recommend that this property be considered significant - nationally Z statewide - locally. (- See continuation sheet for additional comments.) Setay tMeeheng nationa RegolaMrector 12/2/03 Date Massachusetts Historical Commission, State Historic Preservation Officer State or Federal agency and bureau In my opinion,theproperty -meets -does not meet the National Register criteria. (O See continuation sheet for additional Comments.) Signature of certifying official/Title State or Federal agency and bureau 4. National Park Service Certification I, hereby certify that this property is: i entered in the National Register - See continuation sheet. - determined eligible for the National Register - See continuation sheet.
- determined not eligible for the National Register - removed from the National Register - other (explain): Date signature of the Keepe ratiuk Andun Date of Action 121 2004 Winthrop Shore Drive Name of Property 5. Classification Ownership of Property (Check as many boxes as apply) - private - public-local xpublic-State - public-Federal (Check only one box) - building(s) x district _ site _ structure - object Name of related multiple property listing (Enter "N/A" if property is not part of a multiple property listing.) Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston 6. Function or Use Historic Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RECREATION/CULTURE - outdoor recreation LANDSCAPE -park, natural feature TRANSPORTATION -road related Z.
Description Architectural Classification (Enter categories from instructions) N/A Narrative Description See Section 7 Continuation Sheet Suffolk County, Massachusetts County and State Number of Resources within Property (Do not include previously listed resources in the count.) Contributing Noncontributing building _ sites structures objects - Total 2 1 3 0 Number of contributing resources previously listed in the National Register None Current Functions (Enter categories from instructions) RECREATION/CULTURE - outdoor recreation LANDSCAPE - park, natural feature TRANSPORTATION - road related Materials (Enter categories from instructions) foundationN/A wallsN/A roof N/A other _asphalt, bronze, concrete, granite, plantings NPS Form 1 10-900-8 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number1 Page1 OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 Winthrop Shore Drive Winthrop (Suffolk), MA Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS DESCRIPTION Winthrop Shore Drive is one of eight ocean parkways in Boston's Metropolitan Park System, and is located entirely in the town of Winthrop, Massachusetts along the north shore of Massachusetts Bay. This parkway is part of the Winthrop Beach Reservation that was established in 1899 to preserve three miles of oceanfront property along the town's shore. Like all of the former Metropolitan District Commission's (MDC's) ocean parkways, the adjacent beach and ocean views have an integral connection with the parkway and are the primary reason for its existence. (In July 2003, the MDC was reorganized as the Division of Urban Parks and Recreation within the newly created Department of Conservation and Recreation [DCR].) Winthrop Shore Drive will be discussed from north to south.
The northwestern terminus of Winthrop Shore Drive (#1 on the data sheet) is located at its intersection with Grovers Avenue, about ¼ mile south of the small commercial center of the Winthrop Highlands section of town. The parkway, which is just under a mile long, travels south from the neighborhood of Ocean Spray to the neighborhood of Cottage Hill. The parkway closely borders the shore of Broad Sound and overlooks Winthrop Beach. The configuration of the parkway is consistent from end to end with late- 19th century and early to mid-20"h century residences, primarily wood frame and one to four stories in height, bordering its western edge and facing the shore to the east. The parkway alignment gently curves in response to the shoreline.
It descends from its northernmost point, where it is elevated approximately 20 feet above sea level, and then travels for most of its length in a relatively flat path, approximately nine feet above sea level. The parkway is made up of two bituminous concrete lanes, 14 feet wide without a median, that travel one in each direction. A lane of parallel parking is provided on the eastern side of the roadway only. Concrete sidewalks and granite curbs border both sides of the parkway. Sidewalks are located directly adjacent to the parkway with no planting strip in between. Curbs are granite, and curb cuts have been made along the west side of the road to allow driveway access for local residences. Cobra-head lights are evenly spaced along the western side of the parkway.
Landscaping associated with the parkway is virtually nonexistent, except for a small park near the northwestern end of the parkway and an oval miter at the southern end, at Beacon Street. A concrete seawall, approximately four feet tall at the sidewalk side and approximately eight feet deep, divides the roadway from the beach for much of its length, except at the northern end, where there is a pipe-rail fence (see below). Traveling south from the northwestern terminus of Winthrop Shore Drive, the inland or west side of the roadway is characterized by single and multi-family residences that date to the late 19th and early to mid (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-8 (8-86) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Winthrop Shore Drive Winthrop (Suffolk), MA Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS Section number 7 Page_ 2 20t* centuries and are set back about 15 feet from the edge of the pavement. Twenty-two evenly spaced one-way streets intersect this side of the parkway, many with names referencing their seaside location, such as Mermaid, Neptune, and Trident. Each of these streets features residences similar in character to those found along the parkway.
The consistently residential character of the inland side of the parkway is interrupted by two small landscape elements: at the northern end, a small, triangular park, Fred Dinsfriend Square (little more than a miter), owned by DCR and located at the intersection of Locust Street, Beach Road, and Winthrop Shore Drive; and at the southern end, a large landscaped oval miter at Beacon Street. The parkway terminates at Beacon Street and its miter (the Beacon Street Miter, #2 on the data sheet), which is covered in turf and planted with small flowering trees; a modern wooden rowboat has been filled with dirt and planted with mixed flowers. A monument, discussed below, is located at the center of the miter. The miter is edged with vertical-granite curbs and is bisected by an asphalt-paved pathway.
The miter is original to the parkway and is considered a contributing feature for this nomination. One of the few nonresidential buildings flanking the parkway is located at the southwestern corner of Mermaid Street: a small, single-story brick Colonial Revival-style building with two hip-roofed wings flanking a central, hip-roofed pavilion, it was original an MDC sanitary and was erected in 1939. Views to the west from the parkway are restricted to the corridor itself. Views to the southeast, as seen traveling south along the parkway, include close-up views of Winthrop Beach and the Broad Sound shoreline, with several stone piers that jut into the water from the beach. Medium-distance views are of Broad Sound and the Cottage Hill neighborhood, with the sewage treatment plant at Deer Island in the far distance.
Three monuments are located along Winthrop Shore Drive, although only one, at the Beacon Street Miter, is considered a contributing feature of the parkway for the purposes of this nomination; the others, outside the boundary of the parkway, are part of the roadway's setting. The first monument, located at Fred Dinsfriend Square, within the setting of Winthrop Shore Parkway but outside the nomination boundary, is granite with a bronze plaque. The monument was erected in 1941 by the Winthrop Post of the American Legion in commemoration of Fred Dinsfriend (1894-1937). The plaque is inscribed: "He Gave for God and Country." Another monument, also within the setting of Winthrop Shore Parkway but outside the nomination boundary is located at the entrance of the Edward Rowe Snow Path and across the street from the Beacon Street Miter described above.
The path acts as an extension of the parkway alignment along the beach but is restricted to bicycle and pedestrian traffic only. A small, painted metal sign stands at the entrance of the path; it was erected by the Winthrop Historical Commission in 1999 in honor of Winthrop native Edward Rowe Snow (1902-1982), who was a writer of maritime histories, particularly those of Boston Harbor. The granite monument at the Beacon Street Miter displays a bronze plaque that (continued) NPS Form 1 10-900-8 (8-86) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Winthrop Shore Drive Winthrop (Suffolk), MA Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston MPS Section number 7 Page 3 was installed by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1927 to commemorate the capture of the British ship "Hope" off the Winthrop Shore in 1776. Only this third monument, the DAR Memorial Monument of the British Powder Ship Hope (#3 on the data sheet), falls within the boundary of the parkway and is therefore considered a contributing element of the parkway nomination. Traveling north along the ocean side (the east side) of Winthrop Shore Drive from Beacon Street, the beach is relatively level with the elevation of the parkway.
A number of breaks have been made in the concrete retaining wall, which stretches the length of the roadway until it reaches Beach Street near its northern terminus, to provide access to the beach. This configuration is consistent from south to north until the roadreachesLocust Avenue,where the beach drops off steeply and the parkway becomes elevated above the shore. At this point, a seawall built of enormous, rough-cut granite blocks held together with steel staples bounds the east side of the roadway. The seawall, built in 1905, is here approximately three feet deep and is topped by a "Boston pattern"-type pipe rail for about 75 feet of its length; this allows a filtered view of the seawall construction, the rocky shore below, and Ocean Spray neighborhood and Grover's Cliffs to the northeast.
Near- and medium-distance views to the northeast from the southern end of the parkway include the beach and stone piers reaching into Broad Sound. Long- distance views encompass the residences of Ocean Spray and dramatic views of the terraced granite seawall and stairs at Grover's Cliffs. A sprawling brick condominium complex, ten stories in height, is located at the eastern tip of Grover's Cliffs and dominates this view. Further in the distance, to the northeast, the Nahant peninsula can be seen. Archaeological Description While no ancient Native American sites are known within the boundaries of Winthrop Shore Drive, five sites have been recorded in the general area (within one mile) including one site located on Winthrop Beach (19-SU- 79) adjacent to Winthrop Shore Drive.
The latter site may have originally extended into the nominated right-of- way or may simply be an isolated artifact recovery. Environmental characteristics.of the area represent locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, distance to wetlands) that are favorable for the presence of ancient Native sites. Winthrop Shore Drive includes a well drained, relatively flat area along the northern shore of Massachusetts Bay. This area would have been a favorable location for several types of ancient sites used for habitation and a variety of subsistence activities. In spite of the above information, however, the potential for recovering archaeological resources in the nominated right-of-way, both ancient Native American and historic is low.
Impacts related to construction of two 14 foot asphalt lanes, concrete sidewalks, granite curbs, lighting, concrete retaining wall, and granite seawall within the nominated area would have destroyed any cultural resources that were present. (end) Winthrop Shore Drive Name of Property 8. Statement of Significance