Major Bibliographical References (Cite the books, articles, and other sources used in preparing this form on one or more continuation sheets.) Previous documentation on file (NPS): Primary location of additional data: _ preliminary determination of individual listing (36 X State Historic Preservation Office CFR 67) has been requested - Other State agency _ previously listed in the National Register _ Federal agency _ previously determined eligible by the National _Local government Register _ University _ designated a National Historic Landmark _Other _recorded by Historic American Buildings Survey Name of repository: # Massachusetts Historical Commission _recorded by Historic American Engineering Record # George Clapp House Name of Property 10.
Geographical Data Worcester, MA County and State Acreage of Property 38,655 square feet UTM References (Place additional UTM references on a continuation sheet) 1.19 278700 4676570 Zone Easting Northing 2. Zone Easting Northing 3. Zone Easting 4. Zone Easting _ See continuation sheet Northing Northing Verbal Boundary Description (Describe the boundaries of the property on a continuation sheet.) Boundary Justification (Explain why the boundaries were selected on a continuation sheet.) 11.
Form Prepared By name/title Anne McCarthy Forbes, Preservation Consultant, with Betsy Friedberg, National Register Director, MHC organization Massachusetts Historical Commission .date July 1997 street & number 220 Morrissey Boulevard telephone (617) 727-8470 city or town Boston state MA zip code_02125 Additional Documentation Submit the following items with the completed form: Continuation Sheets A USGS map (7.5 or 15 minute series) indicating the property's location. A sketch map for historic districts and properties having large acreage or numerous resources. Photographs Representative black and white photographs of the property.
Additional items (Check with the SHPO or FPO for any additional items) Property Owner (Complete this item at the request of the SHPO or FPO.) name Clifford White and Mary Farrell street & number 44 North Street telephone (508) 839-3602 city or town_Grafton state MA . zip code_01519 aperwork Reduction Act Statement: This information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominat roperties for listing or determine eligibility for listing, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtail a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 et seq.).
Estimated Burden Statement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 18.1 hours per response includingthe time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.0. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0018), Washington, DC 20503 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 Section number - Page 1 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts 7.
DESCRIPTION The George Clapp House (MHC #101) is a large 2 1/2-story gable-roofed, temple-front, wood-frame Greek Revival house of 1835, the only example in Grafton of the high-style type with a two-story colonnade at both front and side. Like many "extended farmhouses", it grew over the years with the incorporation of a small outbuilding, and was ultimately attached via a leanto to a large "New England" style barn. The house sits on a low rise facing west at the northeast corner of North Street and Merriam Road, in an area of well-preserved early Victorian houses. A small amount of land was lost from the property in this century to paving and grading the curve of the corner of Merriam Road where it joins North Street.
The long, roughly rectangular 38,655 square-foot lot is dotted with mature trees; foundation plantings of young deciduous and evergreen shrubs are aligned along the west front of the house, and a well-kept rock garden adorns the southwest corner of the lawn at the intersection. Just east of the rock garden are three granite steps remaining from a former walkway between the colonnade and Merriam Road; two more sets of granite steps lead to the main entry. A U-shaped asphalt drive off Merriam Road at the angle of the house and barn existed as early as 1898, and may reflect the original circulation pattern between road, house, and outbuildings. The fieldstone wall that has marked the east, and parts of the north and south boundaries of the lot since George Clapp's original 1835 purchase is still in place.
The only non-contributing features on the property, located behind the house off Merriam Road, are a mid-twentieth-century in-ground swimming pool, its small wood-frame pool shed, and 5- foot-high vertical-board fence. The house is three by five bays, clad in wood flushboard on the west and south facades and in the front and rear gables, and clapboarded on the other elevations. A two-story side wing extends north from the rear part of the house; abutting its north end are a shallow one-story leanto and a one-story rebuilt ell (formerly a shed/chicken coop) which is linked via a short leanto extension to a large vertical-boarded, cupolaed barn facing south toward Merriam Road. The foundation of the house is dressed granite, with fieldstone under the northeast ell and replacement concrete block in the barn. The roofs are asphalt shingle.
In plan, the main block of the house is the side-hall-entry, double-parlor type. Beside the main interior stair is a formal front parlor, with a large second parlor behind it. To the rear of the second parlor is a small, narrow room; two French doors in its rear wall open onto a glassed-in sun room of ca. 1945. The second story of the main house has three bedrooms aligned along the south side of the house, and an upper stair hall and closets to their north. The north wing may have been constructed in at least two stages. The inner section of its first story, which contains the dining room and utility areas, is original to the 1835 house. The second story area above it, which appears to have been added in about 1850, has an additional bedroom and stair hall.
The north end of the wing, with a modern kitchen and closet at the first story and two bathrooms at the second, may have been either added or raised a decade or two later. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number. 7 Page 2 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts Four brick chimneys pierce the house roofs--two corbeled chimneys near the ends of the main ridge, another centered high on the front slope of the north wing, and a new, tall chimney in the rear side of the converted chicken coop. All the chimneys have modern slate caps.
Exterior description 44 North Street is an outstanding example of the work of housewright George Clapp, who constructed many Greek Revival houses in the center of Grafton between the late 1820s and 1840. One of only two that can be attributed to him with certainty, it ranks among his later high-style work, and, as his own residence, was undoubtedly meant as an advertisement for his considerable skills. The house capitalizes on its corner site by means of the two-story Doric colonnade that shelters both its main, North Street facade and the long five-bay side elevation along Merriam Road. The main facade is tetrastyle; the side colonnade has six columns. The flushboarding of these two elevations ends in a wide recessed-paneled Sout iusg borning ofte se ir odecaior pilaster at the northwest and southeast corners of the main house; a third pilaster trims the rear northeast house corner.
The main section has a full entablature of a three-board architrave, intermediate molding, and wide friezeboard; the cornice, like the corner pilasters, displays the wide echinus molding typical of the high Greek Revival. On all sides of the house, a simple sill board trims the bottom of the wall above the foundation. With the exception of a paired 2-over-2-sash window in the west facade of the wing, all the original window openings in the house are intact and retain their louvered blinds and characteristic Greek Revival casings--wide molded boards with flat corner blocks at the formal windows in the west and south facades, and simpler, slightly-projecting flat-board casings on all the other elevations. The five long 6- over-9-sash windows along the first story of the south side are original, and have early two-part blinds.
The other windows are mid-twentieth-century wood sash replacements, 6-over-I's on the first story of the west facade, and 6-over-6-sash elsewhere. The focal point of the west facade is the main entry. The door has six recessed panels with applied moldings in a configuration of two short panels between two sets of longer panels. It is flanked by leaded sidelights and topped by a high frieze with a single incised field panel. The sidelights are five-paned, with the upper and lower pairs divided vertically; each center pane is embellished with a large leaded diamond. The aprons below the sidelights each have a square panel of the same configuration as those on the door. The whole doorway is surrounded by an elaborate incised enframement with corner blocks and a three-part crown.
The facade arrangement of the two-story north wing is non-symmetrical, with two windows over the paired 2-over-2 on the section close to the house, and two 6-over-6's aligned one above the other at the outer end. The short leanto that abuts the wing's north wall pre-dates 1910. The architectural trim of the wing is simpler than that on the main block, with narrow, unadorned cornerboards, no overhang at the gable end, and on the long walls, a plain friezeboard and complex crown molding under the boxed eaves. Wood gutters were installed on the wing in 1993. The north end wall of the wing has two 6-over-6-sash (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts Section number - Page 3 windows--one at the second story and one under the gable; a new double casement window is located in the north face of the leanto. Abutting the rear half of the wing end wall is the newly rebuilt, one-story shed/chicken coop, with two small 6-over-6-sash on the west face and one on the end wall. The rear elevation of the main house and wing has ten windows; two appear in the rear of the ell. The main rear door, at the north end of the wing, is a modern multi-light-and-panel replacement, with a new gabled hood on square posts. The ca. 1945 glassed-in sun room at the rear of the main house is a Colonial Revival type, with multi-light casement windows with wood panels below, flat corner pilasters with molded capitals, and a multi-light door.
At the rear of the colonnade beside the sun room are two sections of a late-nineteenth-century wood railing with decorative diagonal grill-work in a large "spider web" configuration. Structural examination and deed evidence indicate that the large "New England" style barn just northeast of the house was in place by at least 1845, suggesting that it, too, was designed and built by George Clapp. Of an H-frame type of post-and-beam construction, it has recently been structurally stabilized and its floor replaced with a new concrete slab. Its facade is symmetrical, with one 6-over-6-sash gable window centered over a wide wagon door opening with five-part, multi-light transom. The door itself is a modern overhead garage-door replacement. Other eleva-tions of the barn have a variety of window types, including 6-over-6 and 12-over-12-sash.
The cen-tral ridge cupola is square, with a nearly flat pyramidal roof and louvered openings in the sides. Interior description The original interior finish of the main house is a characteristic blend of a rural interpretation of the Greek Revival with some lingering elements of the late Federal period. All the floors are of wide pine; the fireplaces, some probably meant to accommodate early heating stoves, are small and shallow, and faced with glazed brick or tile. Most doorknobs are of the ubiquitous mid-century ceramic type, though a few doors have Suffolk latches. Baseboards in the two parlors are high, with compound moldings, and the walls are ringed with a molded chair rail. There is no crown molding or picture rail on any of the first-story walls.
The doors of the parlors repeat the main entry configuration in their 6-panel design, and the door and window surrounds in those rooms echo the exterior trim in their molded boards and corner blocks, which here are adorned with raised paterae. A wide flat archway in the wall between the two parlors has a lintel trimmed with a long raised panel; a similar archway is located between the rear parlor and the dining room. The opening between the two parlors is fitted with paneled pocket doors. The parlor mantelpieces display fine examples of Greek Revival ornamentation: echinus moldings under the mantel shelves, and carved urns and vases in the pilaster capitals and friezes. The mantelpiece in the small rear room is fairly simple in detail, with a heavy, unmolded shelf and smaller echinus-molded trim.
The major alteration in the first story of the main house block is the removal of the wall between the stairhall and front parlor. Several radiators, those in the front parlor obscuring a low wall panel under (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 7 Section number. Page - OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts each west window, are covered with twentieth-century wood covers with metal grills. A nineteenth- century modification, probably dating to the 1870's, is the very Eastlakian newel post of the main stairway, which is adorned with reeding, chamfering, and paterae. Some of the dining room finish is of a type slightly later than that of the two parlors.
In addition to the post-1850 paired 2-over-2-sash window, the mantelpiece has a pair of turned posts instead of true pilasters, and a pair of heavy, shallow brackets supports the mantel shelf. A dentil course spans the top of the mantel frieze; here the tiling, depicting birds and vines, is of modern date. The doors of the dining room are four-paneled, with mitered and molded casings. The north part of the wing at the first story is occupied by a modern, recently-remodeled kitchen. The cellar stairway in the southwest corner, however, with its four-paneled door, is of early, and probably original, date. The finish of the second story of the main house is comparable to the first, with both six- and four-panel doors, recessed panels under the main windows, and casings of molded boards and cornerblocks, although here some of the cornerblocks are flat.
There is no chair rail in the bedrooms, although there is a crown molding at the top of the walls. The mantelpieces are simpler and less formal in design than those on the first story, with simply-paneled pilasters or, in the case of the mantel in the middle bedroom, widely fluted pilasters. A narrow third bedroom at the rear of the main house shows evidence of the removal of its north wall, where a pair of Tuscan columns, probably of early-twentieth-century date, lend support to the ceiling structure. A fourth bedroom, in the south end of the wing, is plainer in detail than the others, and has no fireplace. The door casings here are flat, and there is no crown molding. Beside the bedroom to the west is a hall with a narrow stairway rising from the north wall of the dining room. It retains its early round-dowel balustrade and a small, elegant turned newel post.
Other features of thewing's second story representmid-and late-twentieth-century alterations, including two bathrooms, and an added stairway to the attic, most of which was converted into a large bedroom in the early 1990s. Archaeological Description While no prehistoric sites are currently recorded on the property, sites may be present. One prehistoric site is recorded in the general area (within one mile). In general, however, the potential for locating prehistoric sites on the nominated property is low. Locational criteria (slope, soil drainage, distance to wetlands) in the area are not well suited for most types of prehistoric sites. Special purpose-type sites, including quarry areas, could be present although none have been identified.
Given the above factors, the size of the property (less than one acre), and the extent of historic development, the potential for significant prehistoric survivals is low. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 1, 8 Page_S, 1 OM8 Approval No. 1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts A high potential exists for historic archaeological resources on the property. Archaeological survey and testing can determine the locations of outbuildings and occupational-related features (trash pits, privies, wells) on the property, which likely date from the original construction of the house.
Evidence including artifacts and construction features may also be present, which can help date the original construction of the house and barn as well as modifications that occurred to them. (end) 8. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The George Clapp House possesses integrity of design, location, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and meets National Register Criteria A and C on the local level. One of the most imposing of Grafton's many high-style Greek Revival houses, it is one of only two to be reliably attributed to carpenter/builder George Clapp who, according to the 1879 town historian, "erected a large number of the best buildings" in Grafton (Pierce, 399).
As an ambitious example of a colonnaded, temple-front house it embodies the distinctive characteristics of Greek Revival domestic architecture of the 1830s in Worcester County, and, along with several of its stylish neighbors, illlustrates the material success of Grafton in the early heyday of its leather industry prior to 1850. Through the property's later ownership by members of the Bigelow, Adams, McClellan, and Dodge families, the house also exemplifies the union of several of Grafton's most prominent manufacturing, farming, and merchant families. The town of Grafton, incorporated as a small farming community in 1735, became a thriving town with several significant manufacturing centers during the early years of the industrial revolution. By 1835, six major textile mills were in operation along the Blackstone and Quinsigamond Rivers.
Most of the textile mills were in the north and south sections of town, while Grafton center, a typical town common/meetinghouse village where there was no available water power, became the site of a highly successful leather industry over the course of the 1820s and 1830s. A pre-1800 tan yard on North Street just north of the common was the catalyst for the establishment of early-nineteenth-century currying shops by members ofthe Warren, Bigelow,and Dodge families. Withthe development of steam power and other technological advances, boot- and shoe-manufacturing logically followed, as did several small satellite businesses in shoe tools, wax, and blacking. The success of Grafton's leather industry was enhanced by powerful family connections, especially through the Bigelow family, to both sources of materials in New Hampshire and means of distribution in Boston.
By 1837 Grafton led Worcester County and ranked third in the state in the manufacture of boots and shoes, and the success of the Grafton entrepreneurs was reflected in both their bustling factories clustered at the base of North Street and in their large, stylish residences located north and south of the common. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Section number 8 Page -2 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts During the boom years of the 1830s, the residential core of Grafton center was rapidly expanding down the long streets that radiated outward from the common to the surrounding farm districts.
In 1835, housewright George Clapp, who had lived and maintained a carpentry shop on South Street for several years, purchased one and a quarter acres of land a third of a mile north of the common at the corner of the county road (North Street), and a town road (later Merriam Road). He had been born in Petersham in 1799, the third son of Oliver and Lucinda (Lincoln) Clapp. In a fashion typical of younger sons from large farming families in the early nineteenth century, he left his home town to find work elsewhere. He was in Grafton by the late 1820s, when, in 1829, he built the house at 38 South Street for his residence. On New Year's eve of that year, he married Melinda (Melindia) Wood of Norton. Soon afterward he moved the original 1731 Grafton schoolhouse to the property, attaching it to the rear of the house for a shop to accommodate his flourishing carpentry business.
Situated in Grafton at a time of great growth and prosperity, George Clapp rapidly built up a reputation as the most sought-after builder for Grafton center's stylish Greek Revival houses. His South Street home shares many characteristics with five other nearby houses that are believed to have been built by him. All are two-story, five-bay buildings with flushboarded, pedimented end gables, one or two rear chimneys, sidelighted and pilastered center entries, and a second, transomed entry in the south end elevation. These houses, (#s 7, 8, 9, 11, and 19 South Street), have molded window surrounds, some with corner blocks in a configuration similar to 44 North Street.
Most relevant to the high style of 44 North Street, however, are at least two Grafton center houses in the fully-developed "temple-front" Greek Revival mode that have been identified as possible George Clapp buildings--10 South Street, built in 1839 with lonic facade columns and a one-story Doric side porch, and 37 North Street of 1827, which uses the Ionic order for both front and side colonnades. Both houses have flush-boarded facades and window crowns. Another likely attribution, 39 North Street, built ca. 1835 in the form of the six similar buildings on South Street, mirrors some of the details of 44 North--the molded-board and cornerblock window trim, and the five-paned entry sidelights with a leaded geometric shape in the center pane (at #39 a circle instead of a diamond). George and Melinda Clapp had five children between 1831 and 1839.
Following on George's early success as a builder in 1835 he purchased the land at 44 North Street and built this house, much grander than 38 South Street, for his growing family. In 1837 he acquired three adjacent parcels, bringing the total land area to 4.3 acres. Melinda died three years later, however, and George was apparently in declining health as well. He left Grafton and died in Freetown in 1845 of heart disease, at the age of 46. Although as the showpiece of George Clapp's workmanship 44 North Street had been his family home for only a short time, after his death it took on a new role as the grand residence of a series of prominent local citizens, at least three of whom were connected with the local leather industry or with old Grafton farming families. In 1845 George Clapp's real estate was sold off to pay the debts of his estate. The (continued) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8 Page -3 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts purchasers were local curriers and shoe-manufacturers Edward and Abraham Bigelow, who held the property for a year and a half before selling it to their youngest brother, Hasket D.P. Bigelow. H.D.P. Bigelow (b. 1816) was also a shoe-manufacturer, although his connection to the large E.B. & A.M. Bigelow Company run by his brothers is unclear. Like George Clapp, he, too, had left his home town of Lancaster for Grafton, to seek his fortune in the town that had become one of the most prosperous communities in Worcester County. Four of the children of H.D.P. Bigelow and his first wife, Mary (Barnes), were born at 44 North Street.
In a tragic repeat of the Clapp family situation, however, those children also lost their mother at an early age, when Mary Bigelow died of consumption in 1853. Less than a year later, H.D.P. Bigelow was married again, and was soon to relocate to Chicago. In 1859 he sold the house to his twenty-one-year- old son, Charles Bigelow, also a shoe-manufacturer, apparently in business with his father. Shortly afterward, Charles married Sylvia Adams, the daughter of Otis and Sylvia King Adams, who owned the large Adams family farm located just to the east on Merriam Road. Charles's health failed rapidly, however, and in 1861 the property was transferred to his wife's ownership. In 1863, at the age of 25, he died of the same ailment as his mother, consumption. Two months later his infant son, Charles A. Bigelow, succumbed to the same disease.
After Charles Bigelow's death, Sylvia Adams Bigelow owned the property jointly for a time with her mother. After Otis Adams' death in 1860, the two women had also come into the ownership of the Adams farm, and from 1864 to1866 they gradually sold off all their North Street and Merriam Road real estate. The three parcels adjoining the home lot at 44 North Street that George Clapp had acquired before his death were sold separately; the house and original home lot were purchased in 1866 by Col. Horatio Coggswell (Cogswell) (1804-1887). Col. Coggswell's profession and the source of his military rank are unknown. Although he came to Grafton from New York, he had been born in Concord, the son of a hat-maker. Col. Coggswell was apparently retired by the time he and his wife Laura Ann moved here.
During their time of ownership, he purchased a piece of open land across North Street from the house which provided access down the hill to Worcester Street. In 1876 both properties played a prominent part in Grafton's centennial celebration, when the parade route went up North Street to the Coggswell house, then turned west across the road and down "the boulevard" (the other Coggswell property), to Worcester Street. In 1890, 44 North Street was purchased from Col. Coggswell's estate by John E. and Susan McClellan. John McClellan (b. 1847) was a member of an old farming family of both Grafton and Sutton. His father, a Baptist Deacon and former State Representative, had owned a large farm at the border of both towns, which John still managed at the end of the century.
At the age of eighteen John McClellan had joined Company F of the First Massachusetts Battalion, Heavy Artillery, for the last year of the Civil (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 8 4 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 Section number Page George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts War. After the war, like many young men from Grafton, he moved west for a while, and in 1879 he was living with his first wife, Mary (Bartshee), in Buffalo, Missouri. She apparently died, however, for he was back in Grafton by the mid-1880s. In 1887 he married Susan E.Dodge, the daughter of Lewis Dodge and Martha (Adams) Dodge of North Street. Mrs.
McClellan's father had run one of Grafton's earliest and largest currying businesses in the years of the town's booming leather industry, first at 3 North Street, and later in the 1870s in a factory beside the Bigelow shop on the east side of the street, where he produced a considerable amount of goods for Abraham Bigelow's wholesale house in Boston. Susan McClellan's mother was a cousin of Sylvia Adams Bigelow. By the mid-1890s, her brother, currier Joseph Dodge, who had succeeded to the management of the family business, was living next door at 46 North Street. As for John McClellan, like H.D.P. Bigelow, he epitomized the successful Grafton businessman of his own era.
In the 1880s and '90s, Grafton's leather industry went into a rapid decline due to increasing competition and the loss of sales in the South, and Grafton's end-of-the-century entrepreneurs were more likely to be involved in pursuits that could be sustained by local or regional markets. John McClellan ran a general contracting business which built many of Grafton's streets, sewers, and the 1886 town waterworks. For twelve years he was Superintendent of Roads for Grafton; he was also a founder, and both treasurer and president, of the Grafton Electric Company. He hired out teams of horses, and beginning in 1889 had a coal and wood business with an office in the Arcade Block on the common and a yard along a siding of the new Grafton & Upton Railroad just east of the center.
In the early 1900s he expanded the coal and wood dealership to include other items that capitalized on the presence of the local railroad: lime, cement, fertilizer, and hay. He was a Grafton Selectman in 1898 and 1899, a state Representative from Grafton in 1896 and 1897, and was elected to the State Senate in 1898. He was also a trustee of both the Grafton Savings Bank and the Grafton Cooperative Bank. Mr. McClellan's brother, Arthur, who was the family's first college graduate (Brown University, 1871), was the bookkeeper for the business. He boarded at 44 North Street for many years. Sometime in the second decade of this century, John and Susan McClellan moved to Vermont, and in 1911 they sold 44 North Street to two sisters, Muriel and Hildegard Valentine. The sale began a long period of short-term ownerships which was to last until the middle of this century.
Except for a brief period of occupancy in the 1920s by some relatives of Mrs. McClellan, the connection of 44 North Street with Grafton's earlierhistory had ended, andmost of its later owners came from Worcester and beyond. Over the past four years, the present owners of the property have undertaken considerable stabilization and restoration of both the house and barn, and the property is once again the showpiece of Greek Revival architecture that George Clapp intended. Listing on the National Register will duly honor those efforts, and bring well-deserved recognition of the building's significance and of the importance of the North Street area to the community at large. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number 8, 2 Page S.L George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts Archaeological Significance Historic archaeological resources described above have the potential to document the layout and construction dates for one of Grafton's leading high-style Greek Revival homes and the social, cultural and economic characteristics that typified some of Grafton's leading 19th-century families who occupied this house. Further documentary research assisted by archaeological testing can establish the locations and function of occupational-related structures on the property. Analysis of the sites of these structures, their layout and relationship to the Clapp House can document the activities that contributed to 19th.
century residential life and the overall layout of the nominated property as originally constructed Detailed analysis of occupational-related features on the property can also contribute to our knowledge of the property and activities that occurred there, as well as information pertaining to the lives of the inhabitants of the house and by extrapolation the 19th-century lives of Grafton's leading families. Overall analysis of the archaeological context of the entire property, including artifact distributions, the layout of structures, analysis of features, and associations can help in identifying construction dates for the house and barn and the extent to which renovations were similar to the original construction. (end) 9. MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Bailey, O.H. View of Grafton, Massachusetts. Boston: O.H. Bailey & Co., 1887. Beers, R.W. Atlas of Worcester County, Massachusetts.
New York: F.W. Beers, 1870. Biographical Review, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Worcester County. Massachusetts, Vol. XXX. Boston: Biographical Review Publishing Co., 1899. Biscoe, Lucy. "History of Some Houses on South Street." 1918. Crane, Ellery. History of Worcester County, Massachusetts. New York: J.W. Lewis & Co., 1924. Howe, G.B. The Bigelow Family of America. Worcester: Charles Hamilton, 1890. Jameson, E.O. The Coggswells in America: 1635-1884. Boston: Mudge & Son, 1884. Marvin, A.P. History of the Town of Lancaster. Lancaster: Town of Lancaster, 1879. Panin, Mildred. "Historic Homes of Grafton." N.D. (continued) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet 9 Section number Page George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts Pierce, Frederick.
History of Grafton. Worcester: Charles Hamilton, 1879. Richards, L.J. New Topographical Atlas of the County of Worcester, Massachusetts. Philadelphia: L.J. Richards, 1898. Sanborn Map Co. Grafton, Worcester County, Mass.. New York: Sanborn Map Co., 1910, 1922. Vital Records of Concord, Grafton, Lancaster, Northbridge, Petersham, and Sutton, Massachusetts. Editors, publishers, and dates vary. Walling, Henry. Map of Worcester County, Massachusetts. Boston: William Baker, 1857. Warren, Catherine. "Old Houses and Places in Grafton." Ca. 1945. The Worcester County Directory. Worcester: (publisher varies), 1880-81, 1886-87. The Worcester Suburban Directory. Worcester: (publisher varies), 1896-97, 1900, 1903, 1914. PUBLIC DOCUMENTS Massachusetts Government Documents Massachusetts Historical Commission. Survey and Inventory of Historic, Architectural, and Cultural Resources of Grafton.
Forbes, Anne. Boston: MHC, 1991. - Reconnaissance Survey Report: Grafton. Boston: MHC, 1984. Historical and Archaeological Resources of Central Massachusetts. Steinitz, Michael, et al. Boston: MHC, 1985. Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Birth, Marriage, and Death Records. County and Local Government Documents Town of Grafton: Town Reports Town of Grafton: Assessors Records. Deeds, Worcester County Registry of Deeds. : OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (end) NPS Form 10-900-a (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts Section number - 10 Page - 10.
GEOGRAPHICAL DATA Verbal Boundary Description The boundaries of the nominated property,located atthe northeast corner of North Street and Merriam Road, are those of Parcel 3 on Grafton Assessor's map, Sheet 66. The total lot area is 38,655 square feet. Boundary Justification The property boundary includes the entire parcel on which the George Clapp House is located, and comprises seventy per cent of the land originally purchased by George Clapp in 1835 for his house lot. (end) INPS Form 10-900-a United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number - Page OMB Approval No.
1024-0018 George Clapp House Grafton (Worcester County) Massachusetts RESOURCE COUNT RESOURCE George Clapp House, with attached shed and barn Fieldstone wall TYPE building object DATE 1835 early 19th century- CONTRIBUTING/ NON-CONTRIBUTING contributing contributing Rear driveway Swimming pool Pool shed Fence structure structure structure object 19th-century ca. 1980's ca. 1980's ca. 1980's contributing non-contributing non-contributing non-contributing ..
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY NAME : Clapp, George, House MULTIPLE NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Worcester DATE RECEIVED: DATE OF 16TH DAY: DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: 7/24/97 8/21/97 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 8/05/97 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 9/07/97 REFERENCE NUMBER: 97000919 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: OTHER : N REQUEST: N DATA PROBLEM: N PDIL: SAMPLE: N N LANDSCAPE: N PERIOD: SLR DRAFT: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: NATIONAL: N N N COMMENT WAIVER: N VACCEPT RETURN ABSTRACT / SUMMARY COMMENTS : REJECT $/21/970ATE Entered in the Hational Register RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER TELEPHONE DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments Y/N see attached SLR Y/N GOORGE CLAPP TOUSE WORCESTER CD., MA - boking nortueast FORBOS 1996 mHe GEORGE CLAPP HOUSE WORCESTER CO., MA Furst story: front parlor and main st lodking norte west FORBES 1996 mtc CEORGE CLAPP HOUSE WORcEStER Co., mA - losking east FORBES 1996 WAc GIORGE CLAPP HOUSE WORCOSITR CO., MA - losking southeast.
to recr paror FORBas 1996 MHC QOORGE CLAP MODO 038 WORCESTER CD. 685011 - front parler, losking southwes Foeas MTC Fist storg, newel post, main staérway FORBES 1996 mHC Fust Storg, rerer rosm- fireptace FORBOS 1996 MHC AEORGO CLAPP HOUSE WORCESTER CO. -rear of wing t'ell; facade 8f barn FORBE 1996 44 6Uiii =Front eutry FORBES 1996 MHC GEORGE CLAPP HOUSE WORCESTER CO.,MA - looking northwest ANUF FORGOS 9%% mHC URE TURE QUORGE CUAP HOUSE WORCOSTER CO.
MA 685 011 - looking southeast XV00 43dVd FABES 996 MIC eID.no sino Staur hall, losking South 685 0111 FORBED 1996 MHF GOORGE CLAPP HOUSE WORCESTER CO, MA Seernd Storg, middle beerrom, tooking sontheast FORBES 1996 mHC G BEORGE CLAPPHOSE WORCOSTER CO,MA DAK Second story, front badrom: looking southwest FORBAS 1996 mie BEORGE CLApP TIDUSE WORCESTER CO., MA Dining room, looknng northeast FORBES 1996 MHC SrE CrACEN The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Massachusetts Historical Commission July 7, 1997 Ms. Carol Shull National Register of Historic Places Department of the Interior National Park Service Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 Dear Ms.
Shull: Enclosed please find the following nomination form: George Clapp House, 44 North Street, Grafton (Worcester Co.), MA The nomination has been voted eligible by the State Review Board and has been signed by the State Historic Preservation Officer. Since the town of Grafton is a participant in the Certified Local Government Program, the owners were notified of pending State Review Board consideration 60 to 120 days before the meeting and were afforded the opportunity to comment. Sincerely, Betey Fredkey Betsy Friedberg National Register Director Massachusetts Historical Commission enclosure CC: Clifford White & Mary Farrell, owners Mrs. Mildred Bean, Chair, Grafton Historical Commission Mr. George N.
Prunier, Jr., Chair, Board of Selectmen Anne Forbes, Preservation Consultant 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, Massachusetts 02125 - (617) 727-8470 Fax: (617) 727-5128 TDD: 1-800-392-6090 Website: www.magnet.state.ma.us/sec/mhc
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