Nomination for Wade, John, House

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form No. 10-300 (Rev.

10-74) PH0143553 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THI NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR NPS USE ONLY RECEIVED JUN 4 1975 NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED .JUN 18 1975 SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS NAME HISTORIC John Wade House AND/OR COMMON Pierce Tavern (incorrect name used locally) LOCATION STREET & NUMBER- gh Street CITY, TOWN Medford _NOT FOR PUBLICATION CONSEESSIONAL DISTRICT STATE Massachusetts - VICINITY OF C82E COUNTY Middlesex CODE 017 3 CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY _DISTRICT X_BUILDING(S) -STRUCTURE _SITE _OBJECT OWNERSHIP PUBLIC XPRIVATE _BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION -IN PROCESS _BEING CONSIDERED STATUS X_OCCUPIED _UNOCCUPIED _WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE - YES: RESTRICTED - YES: UNRESTRICTED XNO PRESENT USE AGRICULTURE -MUSEUM -COMMERCIAL PARK _EDUCATIONAL XPRIVATE RESIDENCE -ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS GOVERNMENT -SCIENTIFIC -INDUSTRIAL -TRANSPORTATION _MILITARY _OTHER: 4 OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME Eugene and Ruth Lamme STREET & NUMBER 253 High Street CITY, TOWN STATE Medford - VICINITY OF Massachusetts 02155 5 LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE.

REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC. STREET & NUMBER Middlesex County Registry of Deeds 208 Cambridge Street CITY. TOWN Cambridge 6 REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS STATE Massachusetts TITLE Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth DATE 1974 DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS Massachusetts Historical Commission CITY, TOWN _FEDERAL X STATE COUNTY _LOCAL Boston STATE Massachusetts DESCRIPTION CONDITION -EXCELLENT XGOOD _FAIR DETERIORATED -RUINS _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE - X UNALTERED -ALTERED CHECK ONE XORIGINAL SITE _MOVED DATE. DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

The John Wade House (c.1784-1794) is a central chimney, "Cape Cod" type house with one-and-one-half stories, situated at the foot of "Marm" Simonds Hill. To the west and north (rear) the house is bordered by rock outcroppings which rise between ten and fifteen feet above the ground level, providing the structure with a sheltered and dramatic setting- The rectangular plan front portion of the house is set on a founda- tion of rock-faced granite blocks and covered by a medium pitched roof of asphalt shingles. The chimney, slightly off-center on the roof, has been faced with sheet metal painted white in the twentieth century. The five bay facade is of the symmetrical, central entrance type. At the corners of the facade and flanking the doorway are pilasters with molded capitals.

At the doorway these pilasters frame a recessed panel surmounted by four pane sidelights on either side of the plain door jambs. The door is made up of two vertically set recessed panels, the centers of which are slightly raised in a manner characteristic of the Greek Revival. decorative details of the facade seem to be the product of later renova- tions and may have occurred under the owmership of the carpenter Charles Caldwell in the 1830's to 1840's. The gabled endwalls of the house have three windows each, one centered in the gable, and one at each end of the first floor wall. The whole building is covered by clapboards painted white. Centered on the rear wall of the house is an ell approximately two fifths the width of the facade of the house and two bays in length.

Fenestration of this wing is irregular; however, changes in window level show that the room closer to the main body of the house is at the same floor level as the front house, while the second room is at ground level, apparently serving as a shed. This ell is set on a foundation of brick and stone with no facings and is covered by a pitched roof of asphalt shingles. A small chimney rises between the two rooms of the ell, centered on the ridge of the roof. On the east side of the ell, in the corner created by its junction with the front of the house, is a small- paned glazed sunporch. This porch extends to the east end wall of the front of the house and one third of the length of the ell northward. Ex- tending across the rear of the roof of the front part of the house is a shed dormer which is slightly concealed by its junction with the roof of the rear ell.

Entrances to the rear ell occur on the east side of the ell in the first and second structural bay, and on the west end of the north wall of the front of the house. With the exception of the shed dormer on the back of the house, and the creation of a terrace on the west side of the ell requiring the cutting of a door on the north wall of the front of the house, the building seems to be unaltered since its Greek Revivalization in the mid-nineteenth century.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD -PREHISTORIC -1400-1499 -1500-1599 -1600-1699 X1700-1799 X1800-1899 - 1900- ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC AGRICULTURE X ARCHITECTURE ART _COMMERCE _COMMUNICATIONS AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW _COMMUNITY PLANNING -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _CONSERVATION --LAW -ECONOMICS -LITERATURE -EDUCATION _MILITARY -ENGINEERING -MUSIC _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT _PHILOSOPHY K INDUSTRY _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT -INVENTION -RELIGION _SCIENCE -SCULPTURE _SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _THEATER _TRANSPORTATION _OTHER (SPECIFY) SPECIFIC DATES 1784 - 1794 BUILDER

Statement of significance

/ARCHITECT STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The John Wade House is one of two eighteenth century "Cape Cod" houses remaining in Medford. Its siting on a deep lot with many outcroppings and sudden elevation changes preserves much of the topography of the area which has been obscured elsewhere by twentieth century development. Between 1784 and 1794 John Wade, a tanner, either leased or agreed to buy a small piece of land from a one-acre parcel owned by Abi jah Usher, a cardmaker. During this time Wade built a house on the land and seems to have lived in it from the time of completion. The actual sale of the land was not recorded until 1799 when Wade bought it from Jeremiah Clapp who had purchased the Usher property in 1794 and honored the earlier agreement between Usher and Wade.

At the time of the construction of the house, Wade was one of a number of tanners and leather dressers living and working on the north side of High Street between modern 247 High Street and the junction of High and Woburn Streets. Among this group were Jonathan Brooks, John and Samuel Albree, all tanners in the 18th century, and Andrew Kittell and John Leath, tanners and cordwainers in the early 19th century. The house remained in Wade's possession until his death in 1821 after which his estate sold the property to John Bishop. Bishop's son Nathaniel acquired the remainder of the original Usher parcel (including the neighboring 18th century gambrel cottage at 247 High Street) and sold it to Charles Caldwell, a local carpenter, in 1837.

It has been thought locally that the John Wade House was at one time part of the "Pierce Tavern." Property titles from the 18th century indicate that the property was never used as a tavern, but that the whole one-acre parcel owned by Abijah Usher either abutted the tavern property or was a near neighbor.

The rest of the file

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

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Brooks, Charles and Usher, James. History of the Town of Medford, Middlesex Countyr Massachusetts. Boston, 1886. Middlesex County Registry of Deeds. 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY_ = acre (20,782 square feet) VTm ok HL UTM REFERENCES AL1Q/ L31215141BI0 ZONE EASTING 14,6/9,814,8,0/ NORTHING ZONE EASTING LILu VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION LI NORTHING LiLu LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES STATE CODE COUNTY . CODE STATE CODE COUNTY CODE 11 FORM PREPARED BY NAME/ TITLE Christine Boulding, Assistant Survey Director, & Brian Pfeiffer, Medford Historical.

May 1975 Massachusetts Historical Commission STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE 40 Beacon Street 617-727-8470 CITY OR TOWN STATE Boston Massachusetts 02108 12 STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS NATIONAL - STATE- LOCAL As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer for the National 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 tothe criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE abieh R.

Ameedn TITLE Bxecutive Director, Massachusette Historical CommissionDATE 5/28/75 FOR NPS USE ONLY I HEREBY CERTIPY THAT THIS PROPERTY IS INCLUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER armorlegn DATE ATTEST 6/18/25 DATE JUN 17 1975 KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 888-445 Propert Wade, John, Hauce mass Working Number6. 4.75./046 TECHNICAL Photos_ Maps Mildlesex CONTROL OK 6.5.75 HISTORIAN ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN porr otatement of siguificance Oatept Ebovel 60-13-75 ARCHEOLOGIST Accept M.Baues 6Jem75, OTHER HAER Inventory- Review REVIEW UNIT CHIEF Accrpñ Cole 6.17.75 BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry 6-5-75 Send-back - Re-submit Entered United States Department of the Interior National Park Service WASO No. 7 JUN 171975 WUN 18 1975 INT: 2106-74 Form No. 10-301a (Pev.

10-7+) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY PHOTOGRAPH FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY IRECEIVED JUN 4 1975 18 1975 DATE ENTERED SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES ENCLOSE WITH PHOTOGRAPH NAME HISTORIC John Wade House AND/OR COMMON Pierce Tavern LOCATION CITY. TOWN _VICINITY OF Medford PHOTO REFERENCE PHOTO CREDIT Brian Pfeiffer NEGATIVE FILED AT Medford Historical Commission IDENTIFICATION DESCRIBE VIEW. DIRECTION, ETC. IF.DISTRICT, GIVE BUILDING NAME & STREET COUNTY Middlesex DATE OF PHOTO 1975 South facade and east elevation of John Wade House, 253 High Street STATE MA PHOTO NO PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER Form No. 10-301 (Rev.

10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES PROPERTY MAP FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY RECEIVED JUN 4 1975 JUN 1 8 1975 DATE ENTERED SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- ENCLOSE WITH MAP 1 2 3 NAME HISTORIC John Wade House AND/OR COMMON Same LOCATION CITY. TOWN Medford -VICINITY OF MAP REFERENCE SOURCE U.S.GoS., Boston north, Mass quadrangle SCALE 1:24,000 DATE 1971 REQUIREMENTS TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. PROPERTY BOUNDARIES 2. NORTH ARROW 3. UTM REFERENCES COUNTY Middlesex STATE MA INT: 3464-75 IL ISNT LAVE LIERTAVE Paul Guzzi Secretary of the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Office of the Secretary Massachusett, Historical Commission 40 Beacon Slree Boston, Massachuselts 02108 727-8470 28 May 1975 RECEIVED JUN4 1975 NATIONAL REGISTER Mr.

Charles Herrington, Chief Registration National Register of Historic Places National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior 18th and C Streets, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20240 CERTIFIED MAIL APPORTIONMENT WARRANT NOMINATION Dear Charles: Enclosed please find four National Register nominations for the following properties. These have been resubmitted as individual properties, instead of the Judkins Square Historic District which was returned on April 18, 1975. 1. Medford, John Wade House 2. Medford, Charles Brooks House 3. Medford, Jonathan Brooks House 4. Medford, Jonathan Fletcher House These properties have been voted eligible for submission by the Massachusetts Historical Commission (the State Review Board) and have been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer, Elizabeth R. Amadon.

Please note that the properties covered by these submissions plan to apply for FY '76 grants-in-aid. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us. Sincerely yours, Patruad. Weslowski Patricia I. Weslowski Survey Director Massachusetts Historical Commission PLW:Pjj Enclosures ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE KASSACHUSEIS Date Entered SUN 1 8 1875 Name Location Wade, John, Housa Wndtaker-Clary Fouse aroots, Charles, Iouse Madford Widaladex Comty New Salem Franklln Comty Mefford Hidalesex Couty Also Notified Hon. Edward M. Kennedy Lon. Hdward N. Irooke Hon, Locbert Ie laeDonald Ion. Silvio 0. Conte Regional Director, Nozth Atlantfo Region PR MMott/row 6/19/75 State Bistorie Preservation OElicoz Nzo Ilizabath R.

Anadon Exocutive Directos Massachusetts Historlaal Conmission 40 Baacon Etroet Foston, Maosaciusocts 02200 - NR Data Sheet DATE: Reviewer NR 3/21/77 INITIALS: DOE June 18,:1975 NAMEAS IT APPEARS IN FEDERAL, REGISTER: Wade, John, House OTHER NANES: LOCATION: STREET & NUMBER V 253 High Street CITY.TOWN Medford VICINITY OF STATE Massachusetts- CONGRESSIUNAL DISTRICT 7th COUN Middlesex code 017 OWNER OF PROPERTY: (Circle) ADMINISTRATOR(underiine) PRIVATE STATE LOCAL GOV'T it accersible.

MUNICIPAL COUNTY OTHER FEDERAL (AGENCY NAME) : NPS REGION: (CIRCLE) N.ATLANTIC MID ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST MIDWEST SOUTHWEST ROCKY MOUNTAIN WEST PACIFIC NORTHWEST FEATURES: INTERIOR Substantially intact-1 - unknown - 4 _ not applicable - 7 CONDITION - _EXCELLENT LGOOo _FAIR EXTERIOR ENVIRONS _Substantially intact-2 Substantially intact-3 _ unknown.-5 _ unknown -6 _ not applicable - 8 _ Not applicable-9 -Interioi, exterior, environs not intact-0 _DETERIORATED ANALTEREO _RUINS VALTERED _UNEXPOSED -Reconstructed LORIGINAL SITE _MOVED -Unkncwn _Unexcavated _Excavated ACCESS - Yes-restricted Yes-unrestricted No access Unknown historic district? YES NO WITHIN NATIONAL REGISTER HISTORIC DISTRICT? IF YES, NAME: YES NO WITHIN NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK? IF YES, NAME: YES NO ADAPTIVE USE: YES NO Saved?

YES NO -FUNCTION(S): (use vocabulary words) then- pruate now- same neridence SIGNIFICANCE: -ARCHEULUGY-PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC -AGRICULTURE LARCHITECTURE - 4 _ART _COMMERCE -COMMUNICATIONS Claims _CONSERVATION -ECONOMICS -EDUCATION -ENGINEERING LEXPLORATION INDUSTRY INVENTION - 13 -LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _LAW/Gov't/politics -LITERATURE MILITARY -MUSIC _PHILOSOPHY _POLITICS/GOVERNMENT "first" YES NO "oldest?

YES NO _RELIGION _SCIENCE SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN -TRANSPORTATION _OTHER(SPECIFY) "only" --entertainment -health -recreation _settlement _socio/cultural - urban & commun planning YES NO ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: architect/m.builder: landscapegarden designer: interior decorator: ETHNIC GROUP: NAMES: (label role & appropriate date) personal events Gragian Treek kuwal lements engineer: artist/artisan: builder/contractor: tohn wade- built house; early resideut institutional DATES: DATE OF CONSTRUCTION (Specific date or 1/4 of century): 17845/794 DATE (S) OF "MAJOR" ALTERAZIONS: C. 1830s+ 1840s-srekRaal HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATE (S) : umentsadded SOURCE.

(OF NOMINATION) PRIVATE OTHER FEDERAL 'AGENCY: ACREAGE: (to nearest tenth of an acre) STATE LOCAL GOV"T MUNICIPAL COUNTY COMMENTS: (include architectural information here) Frame, Clapboandrigs Granik foundation; (e stories, L-shapely: Contral chimneyt front center panekd entranc wilh sidiliqhts, coilasters, askivalero cosssad Ncare"ck Revival alteratiois, C.1835. SIGNIFICANCE:(maximum two sentences) Examph af vernacelar. "Cape Cod" hruse with queek Revwal altranns; one af & tht 2 remauning dwellings of its type in Medford.