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Photograph of John Humphreys House
Photograph by Fletcher6, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Humphreys, Sir John, House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. A historic map-sheet match is not published yet. The record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary.

From the record

“The John Humphreys House, also known as Sir John Humphreys House, is a historic house museum located in Swampscott, Massachusetts. Although it was long thought to be associated with John Humphrey, an early deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, it was more likely built about 1700, based on architectural analysis.”

Wikipedia article John Humphreys House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

one of 350 National Register listings in Essex County · listed in 1990 · category: Building · one of 2 National Historic Landmarks in Essex County.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 99 Paradise Rd., Swampscott, 01907
  • When was it listed? 1990-03-09
  • Category. building
  • Also known as. First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR
  • Township. Swampscott town
  • Architectural style. American colonial architecture
  • National Register reference number. 90000258 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

61 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 61 fires within 5 miles of Humphreys, Sir John, House between 2003 and 2020, burning about 248 acres in total. 1 started naturally. 6 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Recreation and ceremony22
Smoking12
Arson/incendiarism6
Debris and open burning6
Missing data/not specified/undetermined3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Equipment and vehicle use3
Fireworks3
Natural1
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
27 September 2020Smokingunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
27 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
21 September 2020Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
20 September 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
2 September 2017Arson/incendiarism1.0 acresMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named
17 September 2016Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire ControlPEABODY
1 September 2017Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMassachusetts Bureau of Forest Fire Controlnot named

Every fire recorded in Essex County

Specimens collected near this property

12 of 9,706 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. Museums hold 9,706 specimens collected within 10 miles of Humphreys, Sir John, House between 1800 and 1975: 4,519 Plantae, 2,989 Animalia, 937 Chromista, 579 Fungi, 437 Unrecorded, 234 Bacteria, 11 Protozoa. 12 distinct Species records are shown. Collected by A B. Proper, A H HIGGINSON, A. A. Eaton and others. Each is a physical object with a catalogue number, and each entry opens the museum's record. This is what was collected and kept, not a survey of what lives here - nothing can be concluded from a species being absent.

Image SpeciesYear Collected by Where, as recorded
A photograph of the species Rhodocollybia prolixa, not of this specimenRhodocollybia prolixa var. distorta (Fr.) Antonín, Halling & Noordel.1800R. B. MackintoshPeabody
Erysiphaceae1803A. B. Seymour
A photograph of the species Hamamelis L., not of this specimenHamamelis L.1816Boott, J.Andover Turnpike [=Northern Expressway?], 6 miles from Boston.
A photograph of the species Brasenia schreberi, not of this specimenBrasenia schreberi J.F.Gmel.1821not recordedPleasant Pond, Wenham, Mass.
A photograph of the species Amaranthus cannabinus, not of this specimenAmaranthus cannabinus (L.) Sauer1822not recorded
A photograph of the species Carex echinata, not of this specimenCarex echinata subsp. echinata1834Collector unspecifiedChelsea. [Inferred county from precise loc.]
A photograph of the species Desmarestia viridis, not of this specimenDesmarestia viridis (O.F.Müll.) J.V.Lamour.1841C. E. PeaseMarblehead
A photograph of the species Polysiphonia urceolata, not of this specimenPolysiphonia urceolata (Lightfoot ex Dillwyn) Greville1841F. S. CollinsRevere Beach, Revere, MA
A photograph of the species Carex caryophyllea, not of this specimenCarex caryophyllea Latourr.1847C. DeweySalem
A photograph of the species Carex muhlenbergii, not of this specimenCarex muhlenbergii Kunth ex Boott1847F. M. B. Boott
A photograph of the species Cladophora rupestris, not of this specimenCladophora rupestris (L.) Kütz.1848H. W. W. BaileyLittle Nahant, MA
A photograph of the species Trifolium medium, not of this specimenTrifolium medium L.1848W. Oakes

All 9,706 specimens within 10 miles, at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

Mines and quarries near this property

5 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Humphreys, Sir John, House: 2 plants, 1 unknown, 1 producer, 1 occurrence. 3 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Iron, Gold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium, Mercury. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lynn Eastern Smelt & Refin CorpGold, Silver, Platinum, Palladium, MercuryPlant
Saugus DepositIronOccurrence
Swampscott PlantStone, Crushed/BrokenPlant
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenUnknown
Swampscott QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer

Every working recorded in Essex County

Storms near this property

8 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Swampscott, the town this property stands in, in 8 storm reports between 1995 and 2022: 7 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$50,000Trees and wires were downed on several streets in Marblehead and Swampscott, including Pickwick Road in Marblehead and Thomas and Banks Roads in Swampscott. One of the trees on Banks Road fell onto a garage. A tree on Thomas Road landed on a house causing extensive damage.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$20,000In Swampscott, a tree fell into a house. Street unspecified.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$5,000Trees on Humphrey Street were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$5,000no account filed
June 2008Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$4,000Large branches on Salem Street in Swampscott and wires on West Street in Marblehead were downed by thunderstorm winds.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindSwampscott$500Large branches were downed by thunderstorm winds.
July 2012HailSwampscott-no account filed
September 1995Thunderstorm WindSwampscott-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Essex County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

From the nomination file

1,716 words on record

When this property was proposed for the National Register, someone wrote the case for it: what the building is, and why it matters. That document is a federal record in the public domain. It is reproduced in full on its own page, word for word and never summarised. The text was read off the scanned case file by machine, so the occasional stray character is the recogniser's and the 1970s typewriter's.

The whole case file for this property - 1,716 words, 12 pages, reproduced complete.

Quoted from the National Register nomination for reference 90000258, 12 pages, held by the National Archives in Record Group 79. See the catalogue record.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Swampscott Fish House0.5 miles1985
Lovejoy, Charles, House1.2 miles1978
Newhall, Lucian, House1.2 miles1985
Fabens Building1.4 miles1982
Nahant Beach Boulevard-Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston1.4 miles2003
Lynn Item Building1.4 miles2023

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 90000258 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Essex CountyAll 350 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Specimens. Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), https://www.gbif.org/. Only records licensed CC0 or CC BY are used. Records licensed CC BY-NC are excluded because this site carries advertising. Images are checked individually and any whose licence is non-commercial, no-derivatives or unreadable is refused.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.