Norfolk House | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Federal |
Location | 19 Court Street, Dedham, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°14′55″N71°10′38″W / 42.2485°N 71.1772°W |
Construction started | 1802 |
Completed | 2017 |
19 Court Street is an historic building in Dedham, Massachusetts that was originally built in 1801 as a two-story, Federal-style single-family home. [1] It was soon thereafter converted into a tavern, and hosted John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and the Marquis de Lafayette. [1] [2] In the 2010s it was converted into apartments. [3] It has more than 15,000 square feet of living space. [3]
During the first few years of the 19th century, several turnpikes, including those linking Boston and Providence and Dedham and Hartford, were laid through Dedham. Inns and taverns sprung up along the new roads as more than 600 coaches would pass through Dedham each day on their way to Boston or Providence. [4] As many as 40 coaches passed through town every day, [3] and Dedham was the first stop on the way to Providence, or the last stop on the way to Boston. [5]
In 1802, Martin Marsh, a local mason, built his brick home at what is today 19 Court Street and was then right on one of the new turnpikes. [5] He saw the traffic flowing daily past his house and quickly turned his home into the Norfolk House. [5] His establishment, like the other inns and taverns in Dedham at that time, were bustling with the arrival of both the turnpikes and the courts. [5] [1]
The original portico of the house was the site of the first recorded traffic accident in Dedham. [5] A runaway carriage crashed into the corner post and broke it. [5] The Norfolk House was also the site where "on June 4, 1810, in an expression of public outrage, a number of Dedham citizens assembled" and founded the Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves. Today the "Society is the oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, and one of Dedham's most venerable social organizations." [6]
Marsh maintained the tavern until 1818, and then sold it to Moses Gray and Francis Alden. [5] [7] It was this partnership that hosted President Andrew Jackson for lunch as he and his entourage passed through town in 1832. [5]
In 1840, Martin Bates purchased the property. [5] [7] He sometimes kept a moose behind the property, and charged admission to see it. [5]
Bates tried to sell the building to the Town of Dedham, but the Town was not interested. [5] [8] In a fit of spite, Bates then sold it to the Sisters of Charity for $1 to open St. Mary's School and Asylum, an orphanage and school for girls. [5] [8] [9] The school closed in 1879, and then became a flop house, warehouse, and "third rate office building" which, at one point, housed the offices of an "independent clairvoyant and medical reformer." [5] [1] [8] [9] During this time the building fell into disrepair. [1] [8]
In 1902, Walter Austin, a wealthy pineapple merchant, purchased the home and restored it as a private residence [5] with Frank Chouteau Brown as his architect. [1] It was he who tore down the low portico with a dozen columns under the second story windows and added the larger one in the southern style. [5] Austin also added an additional bay to the house with a covered porch, and an arcade was added to the ell in the rear of the house. [1] Austin would go on to write a book about the history of the house. [10]
It remained a single family home until early the 21st century, but it was only sporadically occupied. [1] From 2000 on, the house sat vacant, for sale but in need of significant repairs. [3] Town Meeting created a new class of zoning, and voted to place the Norfolk House into that zone, allowing for the property to be redeveloped with six apartments that will eventually be sold as condominiums. [3] [11]
In 2017, the Massachusetts Historical Commission awarded the house Historic Preservation Award. [1] The rehabilitation project by Oxbow Partners [3] [lower-alpha 1] used
state and federal tax credits focused on retaining important and distinctive historic features while transforming the single-family house into six apartments, meeting the needs of the current neighborhood. The exterior entryways and windows underwent extensive rehabilitation. Work included repairing the two east entry doors, installing a patio in the footprint of a non-extant front porch, and rehabilitating the south entryway into the main entrance. The historic wood windows were repaired and reinstalled, as were historic paneled and louvered shutters. In order to meet code requirements, a new egress was tucked into the northern elbow between the main block and the ell, and a clapboard vestibule was added to allow for rear egress from the main house and basement. When the project began, the interior retained much of the ornamental detail from the 1905 rehabilitation; the features restored in the new apartment units included historic wood trim, surrounds, fireplaces, doors, door hardware, and a domed ceiling. [5]
During the construction, a fire broke out in the attic but was quickly brought under control and put out. [2]
Norfolk County is located in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. At the 2020 census, the population was 725,981. Its county seat is Dedham. It is the fourth most populous county in the United States whose county seat is neither a city nor a borough, and it is the second most populous county that has a county seat at a town. The county was named after the English county of the same name. Two towns, Cohasset and Brookline, are exclaves. Norfolk County is included in the Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH Metropolitan Statistical Area. Norfolk County is the 24th highest-income county in the United States with a median household income of $107,361. It is the wealthiest county in Massachusetts.
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, which extends southwestward to the Massachusetts–Rhode Island state line. The majority of its length outside of the city was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early 19th century. It is the longest street in Boston and remains one of the longest streets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Due to various municipal annexations with the city of Boston, the name Washington Street now exists 6 or more times within the jurisdiction(s) of the City of Boston.
The Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike is a road in Massachusetts. In Boston, it is known as Washington Street and in Dedham it runs along Washington Street and Court Street.
James Allen, also known as George Walton, Jonas Pierce, James H. York, Burley Grove, was an American highwayman.
The Society in Dedham for Apprehending Horse Thieves is one of the "oldest continually existing horse thief apprehending organization in the United States, and one of Dedham's most venerable social organizations." Since its founding there have been more than 10,000 members including heads of state, Supreme Court justices, governors, popes, professors, generals, and other notables.
The history of Dedham, Massachusetts, from 1800 to 1899 saw growth and change come to the town. In fact, the town changed as much during the first few decades of the 19th century as it did in all of its previous history.
The Norfolk County Courthouse, also known as the William D. Delahunt Courthouse, is a National Historic Landmark at 650 High Street in Dedham, Massachusetts. It currently houses the Norfolk County Superior Court. It is significant as a well-preserved Greek Revival courthouse of the 1820s, and as the site a century later of the famous Sacco-Vanzetti trial. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1972, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It replaced an earlier courthouse, built in 1795.
Theron Metcalf was an American attorney and politician from Massachusetts. He was a New England jurist and served as an associate justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.
The Norfolk House also known as the Norfolk Hotel, was a tavern in Dedham, Massachusetts originally built in 1801 and located at 19 Court Street. It hosted John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and the Marquis de Lafayette.
The history of rail in Dedham, Massachusetts begins with the introduction of the first rail line in 1836 and runs to the present day. Multiple railroads have serviced Dedham since then, and current service is provided by the MBTA. The station in Dedham Square built in 1881 out of Dedham Granite was demolished in 1951 and the stones were used to put an addition on the Town's library. There are two active stations today, and multiple others in close proximity.
Nathaniel Ames was an American medical doctor, politician, and teacher. He represented Dedham, Massachusetts in the Massachusetts Great and General Court.
John P. Brennan was the first American Catholic priest to declare bankruptcy.
The Ames Tavern was a tavern in Dedham, Massachusetts. Founded as Fisher's Tavern in 1649 by Joshua Fisher, it eventually passed into the hands of Nathaniel Ames through a complicated lawsuit based on colonial laws of inheritance. It was eventually owned by Richard Woodward, who renamed it the Woodward Tavern by the time the convention that adopted the Suffolk Resolves met there.
The Phoenix Hotel was one of the most popular social spots in Dedham during the 19th century. It was located on the northwest corner of the High Street-Washington Street intersection in modern-day Dedham Square. Among the distinguished guests of this hotel were Andrew Jackson and James Monroe.
St. Mary's School and Asylum was a Catholic girls' school and orphanage in Dedham, Massachusetts.
Temperance Hall was an assembly hall in Dedham, Massachusetts associated with the temperance movement. It previously served as the Norfolk County Courthouse.
This is a timeline of the history of the town of Dedham, Massachusetts.
Martin Marsh was a mason, tavern keeper, and businessman from Dedham, Massachusetts. He built 19 Court Street in Dedham.
369 Washington Street, also known as the Knights of Columbus building, is a fraternal and commercial building in Dedham, Massachusetts. Today it houses the local Knights of Columbus council and a number of commercial ventures. In the past, the property housed a number of taverns, including the Phoenix Hotel. Several notable guests, including Andrew Jackson and James Monroe, have visited the property.
Gay's Tavern was a tavern in Dedham, Massachusetts. The original location was a political hotspot and the host of a political convention in 1780, while the second location would become known by many names, including the Phoenix Hotel.