Mount Vernon Street Historic District

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Mt. Vernon Street Historic District

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Mount Vernon Street
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Location Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°23′8″N71°4′47″W / 42.38556°N 71.07972°W / 42.38556; -71.07972 Coordinates: 42°23′8″N71°4′47″W / 42.38556°N 71.07972°W / 42.38556; -71.07972
Architect Unknown
Architectural style Greek Revival, Second Empire, Federal
MPS Somerville MPS
NRHP reference #

89001223

[1]
Added to NRHP September 18, 1989

The Mount Vernon Street Historic District is a historic district consisting of the even-numbered houses at 8—24 Mount Vernon Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. The district includes four modest Greek Revival houses built c. 1850, an earlier Federal period house, and a late 19th century Second Empire house, representing a progression of housing styles through the 19th century. The houses at 8, 12, 16, and 20 Mount Vernon are all well conserved Greek Revival 1.5 story buildings with side hall layout, although #12 has had synthetic siding applied. The house at #16 has preserved more of its exterior detailing than the others, while #20 is distinctive for its use of flushboard siding, giving the house the appearance of ashlar masonry work. Behind the house at #12 is a second house that is some external Greek Revival styling, but has a five bay center entrance layout more typical of the Federal period; it is known to predate the house in front of it. The duplex at 22-24 Mount Vernon has a mansard roof characteristic of the Second Empire style; its construction date is estimated to be c. 1880. [2]

Somerville, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of 2010, the United States Census lists the city with a total population of 75,754 people, making it the most densely populated municipality in New England. As of 2010, it was the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by the Boston Globe. In 1972, in 2009, and again in 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border.

Mount Vernon Street was platted out in 1845, and was located near the railroad line which had been laid across the Charlestown Neck in 1835. The area, which had previously been largely rural, developed as a comparatively suburban area with ready access to Boston, and was one of the earliest parts of what became Somerville to be developed in this way.

Boston Capital city of Massachusetts, United States

Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km2) with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States.

The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1]

National Register of Historic Places federal list of historic sites in the United States

The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.

See also

House at 29 Mt. Vernon Street building in Massachusetts, United States

The House at 29 Mt. Vernon Street in Somerville, Massachusetts is a well-preserved Greek Revival cottage. The ​1 12-story wood-frame house was built in the late 1840s, when Mt. Vernon Street was a site of significant development activity. The house is distinctive on the street, as most of the other houses are larger. This house features wide eaves, and a full pedimented gable end above a porch with Ionic columns. It has an elaborate front door surrounded, with framed paneling and pilasters.

National Register of Historic Places listings in Somerville, Massachusetts Wikimedia list article

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References