BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
1545 FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 AUG 2 1 1989 AREA AUG 2 | 1989 FORM NO. 124 WALTHAM, MA MRA n. Waltham, MA ress 935 Main Street toric Name Gale-Banks House 00 Present Professional Original Residential RIPTION -1798 ce Deeds :Federal Itect_unknown Exterior Wall Fabric Clapboard Outbuildings none mourcal cruss streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all buildings between inventoried property and nearest intersection(s). Indicate north see attached map Major Alterations (with dates) Balustrade and main roof on porch roof and access door from house, now removed Condition Ixcellent Moved no Date n/a Acreage 0.159,000 sa. ft. 59-16-11 Setting In a commercial district and on a major commercial street UTM REFERENCE 19/314800/4698750 USGS QUADRANGLE LEXINGTON SCALE 1:25,00 Recorded by Nancy S.
Seasheleg Organization Waltham Historical Comm. Date August 1986 revised C. Jenkins 2/88 -NATIONAL KEGEDIEK ÜRLICKLA DiAiCMENI (it applicabie) The. Gale/Banks House is a well-preserved example of an early Federal farmhouse and is one of the few houses of its type in the city. It is most notable, however, as the home of Nathaniel P. Banks, Waltham's most famous nineteenth century citizen: a Governor of Massachusetts, Congressman and Speaker of the House, and Civil War General. It thus meets criteria A, B and C of. the National Register of Historic Places. It possesses integrity of location, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association. MUO 2/1900 ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community.
Set on a major highway and in a commercial district, this early Federal farmhouse 1s well-preserved and one of the best examples of its type in the city. It has a five-by- four bay double profile, cornerboards, a low hipped roof, and two large panel brick chimneys, the latter probably rebuilt. The windows have simple molded surrounds and the entrance has pilasters, a narrow transom and sidelights, and a door that may be original. This house is very similar in appearance to the east facade of the Sanderson-Bemis House at 380 Lexington Street. The unusual hipped dormer that faces both front and back at the «Dorsor thsl fracos boch front and back at th. apex of the roof and the entry porch with fluted Doric columns were both apparently added in the nineteenth century.
The porch roof was once surmounted by a balustrade and was accessibie through a door located where the center window on the second floor is now. Ihe balestrade from the main roof has also been removed. Windows now contain late-19th century 2/2 sash and a late 19th century porch is attached to the west elevation. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community. This house was built about 1798 by Jacob Gale on land that had been associated with the Gale family since the seventeenth century and that had been left to Jacob after the death of his father, Samuel, in 1793. In 1855 the Gale homestead was purchased by Nathaniel P. Banks. Nathaniel Prentice Banks was born in 1816 in a tenement block on River Street in what was later the Bleachery district.
His father was a carpenter for the Boston Manufacturing Company and for a short time Nathaniel worked in the mills as a bobbin boy. He attended Lewis Smith's school and read widely on his own at the Rumford Institute. In 1839 he ,edited the Middlesex Reperter, a weekly, but it moved to Lowell, MA, and Banks began to study law. CONT .BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Stone, P. M. 1950 Articles on N. P.Banks. Walthar News-Tribure. November 9, 10. Warren, Nathan 1890 Waltham. In History of Middlesex County, Massachusettse ed. by D. Hamilton Hurd. Vol. 3. Philadelphia: J. W. Lewis & Co. Anonymous n.d. Nathaniel Prentice Banks. Iypescript. Waltham Public Library. Halthan News-Iribunee June 1984. Middlesex Deeds - 115:192; 234:276; 626:309; 716:567; 3200:261; Plan Book 112, plan 1. Maps and atlases - 1875, 1886, 1900, 1911, 1923 Directories - 1871, 1901, 1911, 1915, 1923.
WALTHAM, MA MRA INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity : Form No: Waltham, MA 124 Property Name Gale-Banks House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (cont'a) In 1849 Banks opened his own law office and the same year, after four unsuccessful attempts, was elected Representative to the General Court as a Democrat. He apparently was instrumental in the negotiations that enabled Waltham to buy the South Side from Newton; he was reelected to three more terms. In 1853 he was chosen as president of the state constitutional convention and was also elected to the United States Congress as a Coalition Democrat. He was reelected in 1855 as a member of the American (Know-Nothing) Party and, after a long battle, was chosen Speaker of the House.
He was elected to a third term in 1857 as a Republican but resigned that year to become Governor of Massachusetts. He was elected to two more (one year) terms as Governor and in 1860 became president of the Illinois Central Railroad. He resigned in 1861 in order to accept an appointment as a General in the Union Army. He participated in several unsuccesful campaigns including Shenandoah, Cedar Mountain, and Red River. To his credit, however, Banks was known as a fine horseman and an immaculate dresser whose yellow gloves set off the deep blue of his uniform. In 1948 the American Historical Association sponsored a biography of Banks by Fred Harvey Harrington entitled Eighting Politician -- Maior General N. P. Banks. It was undertaken as a study of one of the Union's political generals who had no military background and hadnotattended West Point.
Banks frequent change of political party also, as Harrington observed, illuminated the role of a "practical politician" in a time of great sectional conflict. After the war, Banks returned to Waltham and was elected to Congress from 1865 to 1877, was appointed U.S. Marshall for Massachusetts from 1877 to 1888, and was again a Congressman from 1888 to 1891. In 1847 Banks had married Mary I. Palmer, who had also worked in the mills. At first they lived with her parents, apparently in the house now at 35-37 Central Street (see form), and then with his on Main Street. In 1855 Banks purchased the Gale homestead of about 20 acres and reportedly ran a well-equipped farm with cattle, horses, pigs, Pinai Lacy. orchards, corn fields, a grape arbor, poultry yards, and other features. of Wales visited Massachusetts in 1861 during Bank's last term as Governor, Mrs.
Banks, as aronit inatr roportci,y caused First Lady, dancedthe first dance with the royal guest, an event that reportedly caused Boston society matrons to complain about the Maudacity of that factory girl!" After Banks' death in 1894, the homestead property was subdibvided into houselots; the house was sold in 1905 to Frans O.
Strom, a carpenter who lived nearby on Prospect The Stroms apparently rented this house; in 1923 it was occupied by Peter Gilson, an advertising solicitor for the Boston Globee Staple to Inventory form at bottom UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Gale--Banks House NAME: MULTIPLE Waltham MRA NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 8/21/89 DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: 10/05/89 REFERENCE NUMBER: 89001545 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: OTHER: N PDIL: N PERIOD: N PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: REQUEST: N SAMPLE: N SLR DRAFT: Y NATIONAL: N N N COMMENT WAIVER: N ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 9/28/59 DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: Please ppecify which area (A) of signijicance here to justify snilitary and altough ong Loi politienl rneg peemaless than spectacula teee eento ey a a thin ceitein RECOM.
/CRITERIA Beturu DANE IIN Cecbtertmal Sistary DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y see attached SLR YXN CLASSIFICATION _count _resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION historic DESCRIPTION current architectural classification materials descriptive text SIGNIFICANCE Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph &completeness X clarity applicable criteria Xjustification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context _relationship of integrity to significance _justification of exception other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA acreage UTMS verbal boundary description boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION sketch maps USGS maps photographs presentation OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone signo Berpok Sauze (202) 343-9590 Date 2/28/87 1545 FORM B - BUILDING MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 AUG 2 1 1989 NATIO REGIC AREA AUG 2 | 1989 FORM NO.
124 WALTHAM, MA MRA Town Waltham, MA Address 935 Main Street Historic Name Galo-Banks House Photo (3"x3" or 3"x5", black and white) Indicate address of property on back of photo. Staple to left side of form. Use: Present Professional Original Residential DESCRIPTION Date - 1798 Deeds Source Style_Federal Architect_unknown Exterior Wall Fabric Clapboard Outbuildings none Sketch Map: Draw map showing property's location in relation to nearest cross streets and/or geographical features. Indicate all buildings between inventoried property and nearest intersection(s). Indicate north see attached map Major Alterations (with dates) Balustrade and main roof on porch root and access door from house, now removed Condition_Excellent Moved no Date n/a Acreage 0.590,000 sa. ft.
59-16-11 Setting_In a commercial district and on a major commercial street UTM REFERENCE 19.314800/4693750 USGS QUADRANGLE LEXINETON SCALE 1:25,000 Recorded by Nancy S. Seasholeg OrgantzationWaltham Historicel Comm. Date August 1986 revised C. Jenkins 2/88 (hi.lasini Ts one of fhe sfew seuses orelts repe in tex cpte. ft poesely es tnegrfty of iocation, design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association, and thus meets Criteria C of the National Register of Historic Places. ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE Describe important architectural features and evaluate in terms of other buildings within the community. Set on a major highway and in a commercial district, this early Federal farmhouse 1s well-preserved and one of the best examples of its type in the city.
It has a five-by- four bay double profile, cornerboards, a low hipped roof, and two large panel brick chimneys, the latter probably rebuilt. The windows have simple molded surrounds and the entrance has pilasters, a narrow transom and sidelights, and a door that may be original. This house is very similar in appearance to the east facade of the Sanderson-Bemis House The unusual hipped dormer that faces both front and back at the apex of the roof and the entry porch with fluted Doric columns were both apparently added The porch roof was once surmounted by a balustrade and was accessible through a door located where the center window on the second floor is now. The balastrade from the main roof has also been removed. Windows now contain late-19th century 2/2 sash and a late 19th century porch is attached to the west elevation.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE Explain the role owners played in local or state history and how the building relates to the development of the community. This house was built about 1798 by Jacob Gale on land that had been associated with the Gale family since the seventeenth century and that had been left to Jacob after the death cf his father, Samuel, in 1793. In 1855 the Gale homestead was purchased by Nathaniel P. Banks. Nathandel Prentice Banks was born in 1816 in a tenement block on River Street in what was later the Bleachery district. His father was a carpenter for the Boston Manufacturing Company and for a short time Nathaniel worked in the mills as a bobbin bey. He attended Lewis Snith's school and read widely on his own at the Fumford Institute. In 1839 he ,edited the Middlesex Reperter, a weekly, but it moved to Loweil, MA, and Banks began to study law.
CONT - BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES Stone, P. M. 1950 Articles on N. P.Banks. Halthar News-Tribune. Noverber 9, 10. Warren, Nathan 1890 waltham. In Histery ef Middlesex Ceunty, Massachusetts, ed. by D. Hamilton Hurd. Vol. 3. Philadelpnia: J. W. Lewis & Co. Anonymous n.d. Nathaniel Prentice Banks. Typescript. Waltham Public Library. Walthan Nehs-Tribune. June 1984. Middlesex Deeds - 115:192; 234:276; 626:309; 716:557; 320C:261; Plan Book 112, plar 1. Maps and atiases - 1875, 1886, 1900, 1911, 1923 Directories - 1871, 1901, 1911, 1915, 1923. .. INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston WALINAII, TIA MIAH Commmity: Form No: Waltham, MA 124 Property Name Gale-Banks House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE (cont'd) In 1849 Banks opened his own law office and the same year, after four unsuccessful attempts, was elected Representative to the General Court as a Democrat. He apparently was instrumental in the negotiations that enabled Waltham to buy the South Side from Newton; he was reelected to three more terms. In 1853 he was chosen as president of the state constitutional convention and was also elected to the United States Congress as a Coalition Democrat. He was reelected in 1855 as a member of the American (Know-Nothing) Party and, after a long battle, was chosen Speaker of the House. He was elected to a third term in 1857 as a Republican but resigned that year to become Governor of Massachusetts. He was elected to two more (one year) terms as Governor and in 1860. became president of the Illinois Central Railroad.
He resigned in 1861 in order to accept an appointment as a General in the Union Army. He participated in several unsuccesful campaigns including Shenandoah, Cedar Mountain, and Red River. To his credit, however, Banks was known as a fine horseman and an immaculate dresser whose yellow gloves set off the deep blue of his uniform. In 1948 the American Historical Association sponsored a biography of Banks by Fred Harvey Harrington entitled Fighting Politician -- Maior General N. P. Banks. It was undertaken as a study of one of the Union's political generals who had no military background and had not attended West Point. Banks frequent change of political party also, as Harrington observed, illuminated the role of a "practical politician" in a time of great sectional conflict. After the war, Banks returned to Waltham and was elected to Congress from 1865 to 1877, was appointed U.S.
Marshall for Massachusetts from 1877 to 1888, and was again a Congressman from 1888 to 1891. In 1847 Banks had married Mary I. Palmer, who had also worked in the mills. At first they lived with her parents, apparently in the house now at 35-37 Central Street (see form), and then with his on Main Street. In 1855 Banks purchased the Gale homestead of about 20 acres and reportedly ran a well-equipped farm with cattle, horses, pigs, orchards, corn fields, a grape arbor, poultry yards, and other features. When the Prince of Wales visited Massachusetts in 1861 during Bank's last term as Governor, Mrs.
Banks, as First Lady, danced the first dance with the royal guest, an event that reportedly caused Boston society matrons to complain about the "audacity of that factory girl!" After Banks' death in 1894, the homestead property was subdibvided into houselots; the house was sold in 1905 to Frans 0. Strom, a carpenter who lived nearby on Prospect Hill Avenue. The Stroms apparently rented this house; in 1923 it was occupied by Peter Gilson, an advertising solicitor for the Boston Globe. Staple to Inventory form at bottom 1989 HUO NPS Form 10-900-e (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page. OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 AUG 2 | 1989 Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name State Waltham MRA Middlesex County, MASSACHUSETTS Nomination/Type of Review Date/Signature 31.
Fitch, Ezra, School Entered in the Natonal Register qp2s/14 Attest 32. Flagg, Frederick, House - Entered in the National Register (eeper HubmpBgu 9/26/05 Attest 33. French, Daniel, School Enteredin the /Keeper Aulusenyen 2/28184 Mational Register Attest Sti34. Pulter -seado House Subotantro Roviar Sr Kosper Borff Sauge 3/1/10 Attest Sut 35. Gale--Banks House Substantive Review faKeeper fotkt. Sze 219/90 Attest 36. Gibbs, William, Houseentered in the Mationad Register tReeper AhlmusByu 9/24/84 Attest 37. Gilbrae Inn ntered in the National Register /-Keeper_ AelmesByur 9/28/84 38. Grove Hill Cemetery Entered in the National Regiater Attest Keeper Aelmebyen 9/20/69 Attest 39. Hagar--Smith--Livermore--Sanderson House Enteredin the Natlonal Register 40.
Hager--Mead House Entered in the National Ragister /keeper HulmeBgu 1/464 Attest fhaotper AulmerByan 2/2110 Attest UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: RESUBMISSION PROPERTY NAME: Gale--Banks House MULTIPLE Waltham MRA NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 1/23/90 DATE OF PENDING LIST: DATE OF 45TH DAY: REFERENCE NUMBER: 89001545 NOMINATOR: STATE DETAILED EVALUATION: Y X ACCEPT RETURN REJECT 3/4/90 DATE ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS : 3/09/90 * Xorally sigunficat early Wieesaettarmao house, a race suurva Auitial returu commente addreased. Xee cut and paste an the sentor coonn s notadceptable. Page# 2 onto arclival Oaper.
RECOM./CRITERIA Accept C EVIEWERAge TELTNE eeteal iston 3/9/90 DOCUMENTATION see attached comments X/d see attached SLR X/N CLASSIFICATION count resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION historic current DESCRIPTION architectural classification materials descriptive text SIGNIFICANCE Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect Statement of Significance (in one paragraph) summary paragraph _completeness clarity applicable criteria justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA acreage UTMS verbal boundary description boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION sketch maps USGS maps photographs presentation OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone Signed Date Gale--Banks Heuse 935.
MAIN ST. -CUALTHAM, MA MRA #124 20° 16-20 S136 6.10 PALME 6750 9308 3323 BANKS SQ. 1970 Atlas, City of Waltham Compiled by the Waltham Engineering Division Scale: 1 inch = 140 feet 5000 6700 40.42 6000 WELLINGTON AV 4202 4085 32IS 6800 7980 1249 WE ING N 6702 5630 000 388 3465 42/9 6302 109/7 4167 507 905 305 935 MAIN 5860 4 3928 93:919 917 913.903 STREET 18 Waltham, Massachusetts MRA 935 Main Street Gale- . Banks House 19-D-2 AUG 21 -TON & MAINE R.R. 60 2 94.99(d)10413) 100.61 5 13230 14l 57-59 -53-55 55:4 4 3 56 60 2 8OLUMBUS 1 60 1 2 100 60 $23 75- 22 101 45 100 66.45 20 60 100 19 60 SO 50 50 8.
40 62 60 100 75 34=36 60 28 60 24 44 18-20 50 57.27 6958 50 100 17 27 50 100 256 16 25 100(d) 102-(s) 00 L0 50 100 105 14 110.23(d) 15 (s) 12109 2 100 100 4 100 5 T00 100 6 00 95.89 9 89.77 -43-45 50L 45 39-41---43- 31-33-35-37 560 1071 456), 46- 46 20 4 100 5 00 100 7 16.65 116 116 116.75 9 106.33 945 ===C> 60 6 60 50 * d 13 115 (d)) 50 187.04 (00(0) * 90 156.36 75-7 98.34 22.27 5G12775 7O(d) 79(s) NE- AVE 22-20 5CL 49749 2 38.87 5T.0 59-61 96(s j05 42 95.19 ,02 80 -80(6) 56-62 53-55 g4 (s) 12 14 66 43.03 94.27 +H 4 43 9Z03 - 6528.44 co 54.02 9203 42 5 48-50 9203 92:03 02 -46 10] 60 60 40-42 E 90.45 90.45 A 58 67 48 e1505 62 86-38 WELLINGTON AVE 552 _59.75 32- 2 97.13 93 96/95 28-84 6 58 58 54.65 28 82.5 22-24 -23- 27 15 70.48 67.48 -62.5 19-21 18:66 4 825 4666 --20 80.72
-15-17 $ 13 15-17 -19-21 -23-20-27-29 47 -85.74 WELLINGTON 12-14 1Om 11=13 E00 2233-c 46.65 LO 80.8 .N 12 60 LO 25 .67 53 36 6. 53.04 923-919 AUG -2/ 1989 46 82.26 99.95 CO 6|,28 109.85 3573 66 110(s) 100 (a) 89.63 31 68 3 68 89.96 90 30 68 4 29 110193 T0O (d); 90.8 SB 28M 5 100 109(s) 29 57 70%s! 9! 92 45 (s) 92 (s) 595 68 70 (6) U59:5 91.5 44 -24 .co 105 -44 36-38 -32-34- 30 - 63 8 68 68 H 47 37-39 68 69.22 40 53 60 84 46 150 751 935 9335 MAIN STREET 23 -90.53 22- 90.2 21 3989 20 19.9 :19 83.72 WALTHAM, MA MRA Gale-Banks House #124 935 Main Street 1" = 100' 1975; updated to 1987 Waltham Engineering Dept.
lot #59-16-11 ip -24-26 Illios 60 47 32.3/325 105.35 32,5 105.36 P05.70 -14-16-2HAMMÖND 2993 761 2285|52.15 39 75- 51,5 88.89 940-934930 66 +24-922 114.88 N S6O15I Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000301