Nomination for Wellesley Town Hall

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form No. 10-300 (Rev. 10-74) UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE DATA SHEET FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM RECEIVED APR 5 DATE ENTERED 1976 APR 3 0 1976 SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETE NATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS 1 NAME 2 3 4 HISTORIC Wellesley Town Hall and Library AND/OR COMMON .

Wellesley Town Hall (preferred) LOCATION STREET & NUMBER 525 washington Street CITY, TOWN Wellesley STATE _ VICINITY OF CODE 025 NOT FOR PUBLICATION CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 10 COUNTY Norfolk CODE 021 Massachusetts CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY DISTRICT X_BUILDING(S) _STRUCTURE _SITE OBJECT OWNERSHIP X PUBLIC PRIVATE _BOTH PUBLIC ACQUISITION -IN PROCESS -BEING CONSIDERED STATUS X_OCCUPIED _UNOCCUPIED WORK IN PROGRESS ACCESSIBLE XLYES: RESTRICTED -YES: UNRESTRICTED _NO PRESENT USE AGRICULTURE _MUSEUM _COMMERCIAL PARK _EDUCATIONAL -PRIVATE RESIDENCE -ENTERTAINMENT _RELIGIOUS X GOVERNMENT _SCIENTIFIC _INDUSTRIAL _TRANSPORTATION MILITARY _OTHER: OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME STREET & NUMBER Town of Wellesley 525 Washington Street CITY, TOWN STATE Massachusetts 02181 Wellesley VICINITY OF LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTHOUSE REGISTRY OF DEEDS,ETC.

Norfolk County Registry of Deeds STREET & NUMBER 650 High Street CITY, TOWN STATE Massachusetts Dedham REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS TITLE Inventory of the Historic Assets of the Commonwealth DATE 1973 - FEDERAL X STATE COUNTY LOCAL DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS CITY, TOWN Massachusetts Historical Commission Boston STATE Massachusetts DESCRIPTION CONDITION EXCELLENT X GOOD FAIR _DETERIORATED -RUINS _UNEXPOSED CHECK ONE -UNALTERED XALTERED CHECK ONE X ORIGINAL SITE -MOVED DATE DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

The Wellesley Town Hall is situated on top of a small hill in the middle of Hunnewell Park, located near the center of Wellesley. The Park is roughly bounded on the south by Washington Street, on the west by Grove Street, on the north by the Penn Central Railroad, and on the east by Linden Street. The building is set back about 300 feet from Washington Street, and is approached by a sweeping circular drive. The building, basically rectangular in plan with attached towers, bays and other irregular projections, was constructed in two parts. The original building, the library, was erected in 1881, and in 1883 the Town Hall was added to the west. Ox- iginally the two buildings, while they were visually connected on the exterior, were separated on the interior, and each had its own entrance.

When the library was moved into a new building in 1959 the two buildings were joined on the interior, and the entire space used for the town offices. The alterations manifested themselves on the exterior by a few minor door changes; the porticoed doors to the library on the southeast facade were turned into windows and a new entrance constructed just west of the original entrance; a new fire door, reached by a long flight of metal stairs was added to the northeast elevation. Other than these changes the building looks essen- tailly as it did in 1883. The building was designed by G. R. Shaw and H. S. Hunnewell and executed in granite rubble and red sandstone. The two story structure has a high battered basement and steeply pitched red slate roof with copper trim. The roofline is irregular, con- sisting of a hip roof intersected by gables, ridges, and conical towers.

Iwo sandstone belt courses encircle the building, one at the first floor level, the other just be- neath the window on the first floor. The southeast facade, encompassing both the 1881 and 1883 portions of the building has two stepped gable ends separated by a re- cessed area, now used as an entrance. The original library entrance with a sandstone ionic columned portoco is complimented by a large window flanked by ionic columns, to the east on the second floor. The entablature above this window breaks through the cornice and extends into the baroque gable end. A large palladian window with a narrow balustraded balcony, on the second floor, breaks through the cornice into the stepped gable end of the western half of the facade.

The southwest facade, which contains the entrance into the original 1883 Town Hall, also has a large decorated gable end, and is flanked by two round towers with steep conical roofs. A tetrastyle ionic portico with full entablature extends across the three bay slightly projecting pavilion under this front gable. A large circular window with a clock face marked with gold leaf Roman numerals is located in the center of the gable end and is visible from inside the assembly room on the attic floor. Each of the towers flanking the entrance contains a spiral staircase rising from the basement to the assembly room, with narrow sash windows circling the building, follow- ing the line of the staircase.

The towers have a wide bracketed belt course at the level of the cornice of the main structure, with a small circular room above, and a highly decorated dormer window breaking through the tower cornice. The northwest elevation is a mirror image of the southeast facade except for the addi- tion of a small circular tower in place of the entrance on the other side. The north- east elevation has an elaborate gable end on the eastern side, extending at right angles from the ridge roof, with a bay window underneath.

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

SIGNIFICANCE PERIOD _PREHISTORIC -1400-1499 - -1500-1599 -1600-1699 - _1700-1799 X_1800-1899 - 1900- AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC COMMUNITY PLANNING -ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC _CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE _ECONOMICS X ARCHITECTURE _EDUCATION -ART -ENGINEERING _COMMERCE EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT -COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE -LAW -LITERATURE _MILITARY _MUSIC + PHILOSOPHY X_POLITICS/GOVERNMENT -INVENTION -RELIGION -SCIENCE _SCULPTURE .SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN _THEATER -TRANSPORTATION -OTHER(SPECIFY) SPECIFICDATES 1881/1883 STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Statement of significance

BUILDER/ARCHITECT Shaw and Hunnewe11 The Wellesley Town Hall is a significant architectural focal point in Wellesley, and is closely identified with the political and cultural development of the town. The land on which the Town Hall is located was part of a fifty acre estate belonging to Dr. William Thomas Green Morton, who in 1846 first introduced the use of ether as Toem Habz on, ocatid an anaesthetic. Etherton Cottage, Dr. Morton's home, is said to have stood on the site where the library was built in 1881. Thirty acres of Dr. Morton's estate were bought in 1879 by Horatio H. Hunnewell, a wealthy banker, railroad tycoon and an important entrepreneur in Boston, who was married to Isabella Welles, the daughter of another wealthy and prominent family in the area.

When West Needham separated from Needham in 1881 and was incorporated as the Town of Wellesley, Hunnewel1 donated ten acres from his estate to the new town, in recognition of the honor bestowed on his wife's family. He also built the library which now stands in the part (the eastern portion of the present building) and in 1883 added the Town Hall. The donation of public buildings to a community by wealthy citizens was a fairly common occurrence in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and was indicative of the sense of the civic responsibility felt by the prominent citizens of the time. The Wellesley Town Hall and library, built when the town had just been incorporated, was a symbol of the pride of the new community, and has served as a rallying point for the political and cultural development of Wellesley ever since.

The architectural quality of the Town Hall reflects the civic pride of the people who built it. The building is rich in detail, and the massing and materials are striking. "The architects, Shaw and Hunaewel1, were known particularly for their work in Boston's Back Bay, but they carried their urban skills out to the country without losing their ability to design interesting but useable space.

The rest of the file

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

MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Bradford, Gamaliel, Early Days in Wellesley, Wellesley National Bank, Wellesley, MA 1929 Fisk, Joseph E.

History of the Town of wellesley, Massachusetts, Pilgrim Press, Boston, Chicago, 1917 Hunnewel1, Hollis, Diary of Horatio Hollis Hunnewell, 3 vols., Boston, 1906 10 GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY UTM REFERENCES 9 acres A1,9 ZONE 13/1,410,5,9 EASTING L4,68,513,80 NORTHING CLL AILL VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION ZONE DLL LASTNG NORTHING 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, Preservation Planner, and Adrianne Singer ORGANIZATION DATE Massachusetts Historical Commission March 1976 STREET & NUMBER TELEPHONE 294 Washington 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_ LOCALX 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 to the criteria and procedures set forth by the National Park Service. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE chuk Reed Amadon TITLE Executive Director, Massachusetts Historical Commission DATE 3/26/76 FOR NPS USE ONLY 1 ZEREBY CERTIFY TH THIS PROPEB ELUDED IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER DATE DATE 9/30/26 4-3d-26 KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER GPO 892-453 Property Wellesley Town Hall State Massachusetts TECHNICAL Photos - 2 Maps Working Number taut NorfolK 4.5.76.2954 CONTROL OK 4.6.76 HISTORIAN Accept E.

Amith 4-13-16 ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN Accept 4/14/76 ok Ceboveh NarilHuberman ARCHEOLOGIST OTHER HAER Inventory _ Review REVIEW UNIT CHIEF 4.19.26 BRANCH CHIEF KEEPER 4.30 Entered APR 30 1976 INT:2106-74 National Register Write-up Federal Register Entry 6-1-76 Send-back Re-submit United States Department of the Interior National Park Service WASO No.

7 wellesley Town Hall, Wellesley, MA David Gunner, May 1975 Wellesley Historical Commission looking northeast at southwest facade and southeast facade photo #1 f2 nosfalk county APR 5 _1976 PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER ATS14) wellesley Town Hall, Wellesley, MA David Gunner, May 1975 wellesley Historical Commission looking southwest at northeast and northwest elevations photo #2 of2 noufalh county, APR 5 1976 PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER Regional Director, North Atlantic Region MOTT:djb 5/4/76 PR ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER STATE MAESACHUSNTS.

Date Entered APP 301978 Name Peiree, Peter, Stoze Belcher, Jonathan, House Pernald, CeorgePos house Aibree-llall-Latrence, House Smith Alumnae Gynnasium Futnan, General Iarael, Icuse Dillizgham lousa Wellesley Toun Hall Location Middleborougi Plymoucl County Rendoiph Norfolk County Medford Middlosex County Medford Middleses County Morthampton Hampshize County Danvera Essex: County Brewster vicinity Bazastsble County Vellesley Norfolk County Also Notified Hon. Edward M. Kennedy Hon. Edward N. Brooke Hon. Margaret 1. Heckior llon. Jrmes A. luxke Iion. Torbert Il. IncDonald Eon: Silvio 0, Conto Hon. Michael J. Harzington Lon, Cerry 5. Studda Stace Historie Preservatlon Of1icor Irs. Ilizabech R. Anadon Executive Director, Massachusette Eistorical Comnfesion 294 Wasiington Scrcec Boston, Massachusetta 02100 INT: 2950-75 SPRIIGFELD, MESS MAD- D.

S5,528 Hist MAY 24 1976 Lycra Englanh Descsslin NaD TO:TSMAN WELLESLEY, MASS. 2,300 MAY 20 1976 New Engiatis Nemacli Historians Schedule Wörkshop WESTFIELD The Massachusetts Historical. Commission will sponsor one of a series of spring re- gional preservation ,work- shops on June 12 at West- field State College. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. followed by the sessions to open at 9:30 a.m. with ElizabethReed Amadon, executive direc- tor of the commission, delivering a speech. Uther participants will include Secretary of the State Paul Guzzi and representatives from the Office of State Planning, regional planning agencies and the, New England Field Service Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

Presentations will be given regarding local his- toric commissions, hisfor- ic districts,, inventory, archeology, National Register, grants, environ- mental impact statements and current preservation legislation. The afternoon session will .consist of small group discussions on the technical aspects of. the procedures. The general public and all W'estfield area histori- cal commissions, societies and individuals interested in historical preservation are invited to the all-day session. Serving as host will be the Westfield Historical Commission. Additional information available from Barbara Bush of this) city. (Town Hall accepted in Nationat Register Wellesley Town Hall' at-525 anaesthetic. Etherton, Cottage, Dr.

Morton's home, is said -to Washington street, nemNatednor have stood on the site where the placement in" the National library was built in 188150 Massteruseits Historical Com Thirty acres of Di. Mortons es Massachusetts Historical Com mission, has been accepted, State, tate were bought in 1879 by Horatio H. Hunnewel!" of tie Commission, has been in: formed by Gary Everhardt, Director of the National Park Ser- was"married to Isabella vice in the United States Depart: Welles, daughter of another ment of the Interior. wealthy and prominent family in Significant architecturally as a the area. When West Needham focal point in Wellesley, it is" separated from Needham in 1881, closely identified with the and was incorporated as the Town political and cultüral develop of Wellesley, Hunnewell donated ment of the town.

The land on 10 acresfrom his estate to ther which the Town Hall is located new town, in recognition of the was part of a 50-acre estate honor bestowed on his wife's belonging to Dr. William Thomas family. He also built the library Green Morton, who in 1846, first which now stands in the eastern introduced the use of ether as an portion of the present building and in 1883, added the Town Hall*r The donation of public buildings to a community by:wealthy citizens was a fairly common oc- currence in the last quarter of the 19th century and was indicative of the sense of the civic responsibili-1 ty felt by the prominent citizens of the time. The Town Hall architects, Shaw and Hunnewell, were known par- ticularly fortheir work in Boston's Back Bay, but they carried their urban skills out to the country. The two-story structure is ex- ecuted in granite rubble and red sandstone.

Alterations through the vears have been minor and the building is essentially unchanged from its original appearance 1883. - NR Data Sheet DATE: Apiil 19,1976 Reviewer INITIALS: LEBOUUe NR DOE XX ENro NAME AS IT APPEARS IN FEDERAL REGISTER: OTHER NANES: ey to tale nd 4-30-76 and ilray LOCATION: STREET & NUMBER 525 Wasluington Sto CITY. TOWN Wellesley VICINITY OF STATE Na CONGRESSIUNAL DISTRICT 10 OWNER OF PROPERTY: (Circle) COUNTY code Norloth. 021 PRIVATE STATE- BOCND GOVIT MUNICIPAL COUNTY - Municipalo OTHER FEDERAL (AGENCY NAME) : ADMINISTRATOR (underline) NPS REGION: (CIRCLE) N.ATLANTIC MID ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST MIDWEST SOUTHWEST ROCKY MOUNTAIN WEST PACIFIC NORTHWEST FEATURES: INTERIOR Substantially intact-1 Z unknown - 4 - not applicable - 7 CONDITION - .EXCELLENT XGOOD FAIR EXTERIOR ENVIRONS X Substantially intact-2 Substantially intact-3 unknown.-5 - -.

unknown -6 _ not applicable - 8 _Not applicable-9 _Interior, exterior, environs not intact-o _DETERIORATED _UNALTERED RUINS XALTERED _UNEXPOSED -Reconstructed ORIGINAL SITE _MOVED _Unknewn Unexcavated _Excavated ACCESS - Yes-restricted historic district? YES yes-unrestricted NO No access Unknown 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- librany /town hall now- town hall SIGNIFICANCE: 4 _ARCHEOLUGY-PREHISTORIC ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC AGRICULTURE VARCHITECTURE ART _COMMERCE COMMUNICATIONS Claims "first" YES _CONSERVATION -ECONOMICS -EDUCATION ENGINEERING _EXPLORATION.

LINDUSTRY INVENTION NO _LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE _LAW/Gov't/politics _LITERATURE _MILITARY _MUSIC _PHILOSOPHY 2/XPOLTICSIGOVERNMENT "° oldest' ves(no) RELIGION _SCIENCE SOCIAL/HUMANITARIAN -TRANSPORTATION _OTHER (SPECIFY) _entertainment _health _recreation _settlement _ socio/cultural _urban & commun planning "only" YES NO ARCHITECTURAD STYLE: architect/m.builder:/Shaw@/Hunmewell landscape/garden designer: interior decorator: ETHNIC GROUP: NAMES: (label role personal - appropriate date) engineer: artist/artisan: builder/contractor: events - institutional - DATES: DATE OF CONSTRUCTION (Specific date or 1/4 of century) : 1881-11883 DATE (S) OF "MAJOR" ALTERATIONS: HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATE (S) : SOURCE: (OF NOMINATION) PRIVATE STATE LOCAL GOV"T MUNICIPAL COUNTY OTHER FEDERAL AGENCY: ACREAGE: (to nearest tenth of an acre) 9 COM MENTS: (include architectural information here) Desigua by puonien zatrn aulitatan fiüm, m inapianl SIGNIFICANCE: (maximum two sentences) isegular 2 story, grauite y ablble t red sandetone, rectaugle, red slate roob üite apeutrim, towers, stepred gables, clock, Palladiân winlows ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: H.S.

( axchitee/m.buiderfShaw@tremewesl landscape/garden designer: interior decorator: ETHNIC GROUP: NAMES: (label role personal appropriate date) events engineer: artist/artisan: builder/contractor: institutional - DATES: DATE OF CONSTRUCTION (Specific date or 1/4 of century) : 1881-1-1883 DATE (S) OF "MAJOR" ALTERATIONS: HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT DATE (S) : SOURCE: (OF NOMINATION) PRIVATE STATE LOCAL GOV"T MUNICIPAL COUNTY stone, I's stoves, tregular shapspad curyina parape a galle parapeta, pae in had eghem tith ope them easto and huped roo secleons, oocth eupor bum,, unen end chimneys, pout center entrance with flanking and clock in gaue aunes round-arched windows,, balustraded some tetrastyle entrance portig woit entablatuce, flanking nound stai towers uith narrow soado irndowus, and conical capo, nnate rett couses, vanssaly decorated stepped gable dermers; ande clock face in pont gable, round arched window wilh navow balustraded baliong in sedi gable, pntieses.

Chateancaque and Richardemian Romanesque eements. 1Architictuas focal point ugrfucant ai toxcuetmal 8 faitical develofment o Weterday..