Peter and Oliver Tufts House | |
Location | 78 Sycamore Street, Somerville, Massachusetts |
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Coordinates | 42°23′27″N71°6′0″W / 42.39083°N 71.10000°W Coordinates: 42°23′27″N71°6′0″W / 42.39083°N 71.10000°W |
Built | c. 1714 |
Architectural style | Georgian |
MPS | Somerville MPS |
NRHP reference No. | 89001287 [1] |
Added to NRHP | September 18, 1989 |
The Peter and Oliver Tufts House (also known as the Peter Tufts House) is a historic house in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1714, it is one of the oldest houses in the city's Winter Hill neighborhood, and was owned in the 19th century by members of the Tufts family responsible for developing the city's brickyards. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [1]
The Tufts House is located on the west side of Sycamore Street, a residential street running north–south between Medford Street and Highland Avenue on the southwest side of Winter Hill. The house is a 2+1⁄2-story wood-frame structure, five bays wide, with a gambrel roof, two chimneys, and clapboard siding. Its main facade faces east, and is symmetrically arranged, with a center entrance sheltered by an Italianate hood with heavy brackets. [2]
The oldest part of the house was built around 1714. The house "was originally built on Barberry Lane (Highland Ave.)" From 1775 to 1776, the house served as headquarters for General Charles Lee of the Continental Army during the siege of Boston. [3] It was acquired in 1778 by Peter Tufts, grandson of the Peter Tufts who emigrated to America in 1646, and who operated a ferry from Charlestown to Malden, and remained in the Tufts family until the early 20th century. In the 1820s Charlotte Cushman, the noted Boston actress, spent her childhood holidays at 'Uncle Oliver's Farm'". [3]
Peter Tufts eventually acquired a large parcel of farmland on the south side of Winter Hill. What is now Sycamore Street was originally the drive leading to the house. Peter and Oliver Tufts were, in addition to the farm, involved in establishing some brickyards that were an important business in Somerville in the 19th century. [2]
Medford is a city 6.7 miles (10.8 km) northwest of downtown Boston on the Mystic River in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the time of the 2020 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 59,659. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Medford and Somerville border.
Somerville is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of 4.12 square miles (10.7 km2), the city has a density of 19,671/sq mi (7,595/km2), making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and 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, 2009, and 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.
Spring Hill is the name of a ridge in the central part of the city of Somerville, Massachusetts, and the residential neighborhood that sits atop it. It runs northwest to southeast, roughly bounded by Highland Avenue, Somerville Avenue, Elm Street, and Willow Avenue. Summer Street runs along the hill's crest.
The West Newton Hill NR Historic District is a residential National Register historic district in the village of West Newton, in the city of Newton, Massachusetts in the United States. It is composed of a cohesive collection of spacious houses built in the second half of the 19th century, representing the development of the West Newton area as a fashionable railroad suburb. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Powder House Square is a neighborhood and landmark rotary in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. It is also known locally as Powder House Circle. It is the 6-way intersection of College Avenue, Broadway, Warner Street, and Powder House Boulevard. Powder House Square stands at the southern tip of Tufts University's main Somerville/Medford campus, and borders the northern edge of Nathan Tufts Park. The square takes its name from the 18th century Powder House which overlooks the rotary from Nathan Tufts Park.
The Old Cemetery, also known as the Milk Row Cemetery, is a historic cemetery on Somerville Avenue and School Street in Somerville, Massachusetts. Established in 1804 on land donated by Samuel Tufts, it is the city's oldest cemetery. The cemetery was established when Somerville was still a part of Charlestown, and many Somerville residents used that city's Phipps Street Burying Ground, and later the Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge instead of this one. As a result, this cemetery remained small, and was the only one established within the city limits in the 19th century.
The First Universalist Church is a historic Universalist Church building at 125 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Romanesque church building was built between 1916 and 1923 to a design by Ralph Adams Cram, and is the only example of his work in Somerville. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It is currently owned by the Highland Masonic Building Association, and is the home of King Solomon's Lodge AF & AM, the builders of the Bunker Hill Monument.
The former First Unitarian Church is a historic church building at 130 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. The stone church was built in 1894 for a Unitarian congregation. It was designed by Hartwell & Richardson and is a good example of Richardsonian Romanesque design. The building presently (2022) houses the Mission Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Charles Adams-Woodbury Locke House is an historic house in Somerville, Massachusetts. The Greek Revival house was built about 1840 for a Boston leather merchant and was one of the first residences of a commuter, rather than a farmer, in the Winter Hill neighborhood of the city. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Adams-Magoun House is a historic house at 438 Broadway in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1783, it is one of the city's few surviving 18th-century buildings and its best-preserved. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The house at 343 Highland Avenue is a historic two-family house in Somerville, Massachusetts. The 2.5-story wood-frame Queen Anne style house was built c. 1880 as commuter housing. The house features jigsaw-cut bargeboard decoration on the porches, and paired brackets in the eaves and gables. It was built on land that had been part of a brickyard, which was subdivided for development in the 1870s.
The Spring Hill Historic District is a historic district roughly bounded by Summer, Central, Atherton, and Spring Streets in the Spring Hill area of Somerville, Massachusetts. The district encompasses the city's best-preserved residential subdivision from the mid-19th century, with later infill construction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Susan Russell House is a historic house in Somerville, Massachusetts. The 1.5-story Greek Revival cottage is estimated to have been built in the 1830s, based on a stylistic analysis. It is a rare survivor of a style that was once common in Somerville. Greek Revival element is its door surround. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Highland is a historic multiunit residence at 66 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. The three story brick building was built in 1892 to a design by architect Samuel D. Kelley. It is one of the city's more elegant late 19th-century apartment houses, built during its rapid expansion in the late 19th century. The building listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
The Walter S. and Melissa E. Barnes House is a historic house at 140 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built about 1890, it is one of the city's least-altered examples of Queen/Stick style Victorian architecture. It was for many years home to Robert Luce, a one-term Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
Brookwood Farm is a historic farm on Blue Hill River Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Some of its fields, but none of the buildings, are in Milton. It is owned by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.
The Somerville City Hall is a historic municipal building at 93 Highland Avenue in Somerville, Massachusetts. Built in 1852 and enlarged several times, it has served as the city's first high school, first public library, and only city hall. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Lamson Farm is a historic farm property on Lamson Road in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. Founded in the 1770s and operated as a farm until 1975, it is one of the few surviving intact 19th-century farm properties in the community. Its land, over 300 acres (120 ha) in size, is now town-owned conservation and farmland. The property has trails open to the public, and an annual celebration of Lamson Farm Day is held here every September. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The following is a timeline of the history of Somerville, Massachusetts, USA.
Fort Hill is a 0.4 square mile neighborhood and historic district of Roxbury, in Boston, Massachusetts. The approximate boundaries of Fort Hill are Malcolm X Boulevard on the north, Washington Street on the southeast, and Columbus Avenue on the southwest.