Nomination for Cobb's Tavern

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form 10-300 (Rev.

6-72) PH0005452 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HB Zn =322360 N 4667050 STATE: Massachusetts ROrFOIK NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY DATE (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) AUG Z 1974 NAME C OMMON: Cobb's Tavern AND/OR HISTORIC: same LOCATION STREET AND NUMBER: 41 Bay Road CITY OR TOWN: Sharon STATE CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT: 10th CODE COUNTY: Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION 025 Norfolk CATEGORY OWNERSHIP' (Check One) District Site Building Structure Object - Public Private Both Public Acquisition: In Process Being Considered CODE 021 STATUS X Occupied - Unoccupied - Preservation work in progress ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC Yes: X Restricted Unrestricted No PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Agricultural Government Commercial Industrial Educational Military Entertainment Museum OWNER OF PROPERTY OWNER'S NAME: Chandler W.

and Dorothy M.Jones STREET AND NUMBER: 41 Bay Road CITY OR TOWN: Sharon LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: Norfolk County Registry of Deeds STREET AND NUMBER: 650 High Street CITY OR TOWN: Dedham Park Private Residence Religious Scientific 141 Trasoportatiog L.SD Comments prgnhor (spoet) MAY 3 1974 NATIONAL REGISTER T6 loi! STATE: Massachusetts CODE 025 Massachusetts Norfolk ISTATE Massachusetts CODE 025 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY: Inventory of Historic Assets of the Commonwealth DATE OF SURVEY:1968 - Federal [X State DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET AND NUMBER: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN: Boston - County - Local AUG 7 1974 ISTATE: Massachusetts ÇODE 025 STATE COUNTY: ENTRY NUMBER DATE FOR NPS USE ONLY 7. DESCRIPTION (Check One) Deteriorated CONDITION Excellent...

X Good (Check One) - Fair Ruins - Unexposed (Check One) Xriginal Site [X Altered - Unaltered Moved DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

Situated close to the road on 3/4 of an acre of land, Cobb's Tavern,c.1740, is the last structure remaining from an original complex which included barns, a blacksmith shop, and other outbuildings. Granite hitching posts, each with a wrought iron pin in the top, still stand along the roadway. The structure consists of the original building, a 2-story addition on the = south side, and a 2-story carriage shed connected to the addition by an enclosed passageway. The structure is typical of New England Colonial construction, with a ridge roof, clapboard walls, corner boards and a dry stone foundation. There is a generous cornice return on the end and front pavillion gables. The structure, 7 bays wide, consists of five rooms built around a central chimney. They include the tap room, kitchen and living room on the first floor, and two rooms on the second floor, all with fire- places.

Entrance to the tap room is through a double leaf door, each leaf 2 inches thick, whose exterior boards run horizontally and interior boards run vertically. One leaf is fitted with a wood astragal. The doors are hung with wrought iron strap hinges. Within the tap room; the 15' pine bar is still intact and a small writing desk for the Post Office patrons is attached to one of the walls. The floor joists are logs with the top side flattened to receive the floor, which consists of rough sawn oak boards topped by a pine floor running in the same direction as the sub-floor. In this section, the windows have 6/6 sash and the front entrance has narrow lights halfway up on each side, with panelling below.

The 2-story addition to the south side, made by Jonathan Cobb in the early 1800's, has architectural details exactly matching those of the original house, with the exception of the south wall, which is constructed of brick. The brick end contains two chimneys and fireplaces on the first floor and two on the second floor. A second kitchen, larger than the original one, and a dining room were added. The second floor has one large room with an arched ceiling that projects into the attic space above. First used as a Masonic Iodge Hall and later as a ballroom, this room is now divided into two bed- chambers. All windows in this addition have 9/6 sash. The 2-story carriage shed extends to the south of the addition. It is wood framed, with clapboards and a salt box roof, and rests on a dry stone founda- tion.

Over 100 years ago a wooden porch, with sloped roof and square unadorned columns and balustrade, was added to the building facade. It covers one half of the structure's front and extends around the northeastern corner to the rear of the building. Possibly at the same time of this addition, a gabled projection of the upstairs hall was built over the porch and a bay window was added to the living room on the front facade. = RECEIVEU MAY 3 1974 NATIONAL REGISTER TITTTOO 20 M - Z - SNOI U S NI

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD (Check One or More as Appropriate) Pre-Columbian! - 15th Century - 16th Century 17th Century 18th Century 19th Century 20th Century SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) c 1740 AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Abor iginal Education - Prehistoric Engineering Historic Industry Agriculture Invention Architecture Landscape Art Architecture Commerce L Literature Communications Military Conservation Music Political Religion/Phi- losophy Science Sculpture Social/Human- itarian Theater .- Transportation Urban Planning Other (Specity) STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

Cobb's Tavern is located on the Old Bay Road, one of the country's most ancient highways, halfway between Boston and the Taunton Green. The Old Bay Road was a throughway for the entire locality for more than a century before the Revolution and a half century after it. The tavern has been a focal point of 'town activities throughout its history, serving, at various times, as a stage coach stop, Masonic Lodge, circus location, and meeting place for various societies. The original house was built in 1740. It was enlarged in the early 1800's, probably when Jonathan Cobb bought it for use as a stage coach stop and store. Cobb's Tavern became the first United States Post Ofiice in Sharon when Jonathan Cobb was appointed postmaster in 1819.

Jeremiah Gould, in his Annals of Sharon,Mass., published in 1830, says "Cobb's Tavern was the post office to which the daily mail was brought by stage over the Boston-to- Taunton Turnpike. Once a week the mail was sent from here to the center of the town". Sharon had 1,000 residents in 1819 when the post office was established. The Boston Globe of August 6, 1905, in an article concerning the tavern, said, "Among the historic roadside inns in New England, none have a more interesting history than has Cobb's Tavern in East Sharon. In 1819 Jonathan Cobb was appointed Postmaster for Sharon, the mail at that time being brought to his office in stagecoaches. In the distribution of the mail among the people of the town, the school children were given letters being broughe ta as ointed Postnaster to deliver on their way to school.

This system of delivery was continued until the establishment of a Post Office in Sharon Center." In 1847, when the central Post Office was opened in the center of Sharon, the name of the office at Cobb's Tavern was changed to East Sharon. The old signs, one reading "Post Office" and the other "East Sharon" are still in the tavern. After the death of Jonathan Cobb, his son,warren, was appointed Postmaster. At the latter's death in 1895, the Post Office in East Sharon was abolished and the tavern was closed to the public. The old "swing sign" which Jonathan Cobb erected outside the tavern shows a cob horse with the lettering "J.Cobb" underneath. The sign is the property of the Dedham Historical Society. Many societies also made use of the tavern's facilities throughout its his- tory.

The Old Stoughton Musical Society, one of the oldest in the country, was organized in 1786, and met frequently at Cobb's Tavern from 1804 through The Rising Star Masonic Chapter also held its first meeting in the avern in 1815, and continued to meet in the large second floor room unti1 1o1o- (cont'a) 9.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES 1. Gould, Jeremiah, Annals of Sharon, Sharon, 1830. 2. Records of Canton Institution of Savings 3. "Boston Globe", August 6, 1905. 4. Cobb,Jonathan, Journal, now in Sharon Public Library. GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINATES DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY LATITUDE AND LONGIT'IDE COORDINATES DEFINING THE LENTER POIN | OF A PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES R CORNER LATITUDE Degrees Minutes Seconds LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE?

Degrees Minutes Seconds, Degrees Minutes Seconds Degrees Minutes Seconds NW 42 08 - 14% - 71 09- 021" NE SE SW APPROXIMA TE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: ILIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR ES CODE COUNTY CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: RECEIVED MAY 3 1974 CODE STATE: CODE COUNTY: STATE: CODE COUNTY: NATIONAL REGISTER LIITOL T6 CODE CODE FORM PREPARED BY NAME AND TITLE: Elizabeth R.Amadon,State Survey Director ORGANIZATION By Mindy Arbo DATE Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET AND NUMBER: 40 Beacon Street CITY OR TOWN: Boston 617-727-8470 2.

STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION 10/16/73 STATE Massachusetts 02108 NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION CODE 025 As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na- tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the c-iteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. The recommended level of significance of this nomination is: National State Local : 8 Name platy Doner orable J F.X.Davoren egretary of the Commonwealth Title Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission Date 4/24174 I hereby certify that this property is included in the Nationa1 Register. ARuearleuxa Director, Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Date ATTEST: Date Whane Keeper of The National Reg 8.1.>5 * U.S.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1973-729-147/1442 3-1 - Form 10-300a (July 1969) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Continuation Sheet) COBB'S TAVERN, SHARON STATE Massachusetts OUNT' Norfoll FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER AUG 7 1974 DATE (Number all entries) 8) SIGNIFICANCE Circuses frequently set up their tents on the tavern's grounds and were fed and bedded down by Cobb. Such groups as Van Amburgh's Menagerie, G.F.Bailey's Circus, Howe's Trans-Atlantia Circus, and the Great Iondon Circus and Menagerie colors, still hangs in the tap room. Under the printed line, "WILL EXHIBIT AT", are the pencilled words, "Cobb's Tavern,East Sharon,Mass. on Tuesday Sept.8, 1846. ADMITTANCE ONLY 25 CENTS". The Boston Bicycle Club, organized in 1878, established out-of-town headquarters at Cobb's Tavern.

The first "Wheel around the Hub" took place in 1879 and became a regular and popular event. A member, reminiscing about those early days, wrote, "I shall never forget the exhilerating ride through the Blue Hills and comfortable. The food was homelike and the surroundings unique." 31 4 RECEIVED MAY 1974 NATIONAL REGISTER T0N16 GP O 921.724 PROPERTY WORKING NUMBER TECH REVIEW Cobb's Zanern 5. 3. 74. 695 PHOTOS / MAPS STATE Mace.

Norfolk CONTROL REVIEW OK Cm 2.8 74 HISTORIAN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN ARCHEOLOGIST REVIEW UNIT CHIEF BRANCH CHIEF JCT 7/16/74 Aecept 1SARNT acoen Cole 713017 Heriy 73124 KEEPER 811 National Register Write-up Federal Register entry Oct: 1,1974 Send-back - Re-submit_ Entered AUG 7 1974 INT: 1538-73 PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER FORM 10-301 A (6/72) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM (Type all entries -attach to or en close with photograph) AND/OR HISTORIC same 1. NAME COMMON Cobb's Tavern 2. LOCATION STATE Massachusetts STREET AND NUMBER 41 Bay Road 3. PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT Chandler Jones 4. IDENTIFICATION DESCRIBE VIEW, DIRECTION, ETC.

Facade i facing east NUMERIC CODE (Assigned by NPS) AUG 7 1974 COUNTY Norfolk TOWN Sharon DATE 1973 NEGATIVE FILED AT photographer RECENED MAY 1974 NATIONAL REGISTE- GPO 932-009 Cobb's Tavern 41 Bay Rd Sharon Ma 1973 ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MASSACHUSETS Date Entered ADG 7 1974 Name Cobb's Zevera Location Sharon Norfolk County Also Notified Hon. Edward M. Kennedy Hon, Edvard Wo Brooke Hon. Margaret M. Heckler Regional Director, North Atlantie Region PR MMott: cm 8/15/74 State Historie Preservation Officer Hon, Jobn 7. X- Devoren Secretary of the Comnonvesith Chaiman, Massschusetts Historieal Commission 40 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108