Fairmont Street

FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-419 I I Marlborough I F 162

80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116
Town Marlborough
Place (neighborhood or village) _
Fairmollot Hill
Address 25 Fairmount Street
Historic N arne Joseph Cosgrove House
Uses: Present Dwellincr o
Original Dwelling
Date of Construction ca. 1890's
Source Maps: style
Style/Form Queen Anne
Architect/Builder.Lunknown _
Exterior Material:
Sketch Map Foundation orange brick

Draw a map of the area indicating properties within
it. Number each property for which individual Wall(frim wood shingle
inventory forms have been completed. Label streets,
including route numbers, If any. Attach a separate Roof asphalt shingle
sheet if space is not sufficient here. Indicate north.
Outbuildings/Secondary Structures _
!0~
~.
8;/Q . 0ZN'c.
hip-roofed, concrete-block garage
c-j ,!5Q (1, Major Alterations (with dates).•.. _

I\..I~ ·0. 0.0- ~VD
"
1;Y
6,
<)
none
f ..---I ~
~J ~ C
,,)/ C:-u
Condition excellent
Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _~N-.I~A _
Acreage Jess than one acre
Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting At corner of FairmollDt and I iherty,
Organization for Marlboro Hjst Comm overlookinO' _ GranO'er

0 Blvd In neighborhood
.
Date 4/30/94 of late-19th- to early-70tb-C houses

BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other
buildings within the community.
One of the best-preserved of the Queen Anne houses on Fairmount Hill, the Joseph Cosgrove
House is a tall, 2 V2-story building with a one-story rear ell and a wraparound facade porch. With
its complex massing, which gives each side of the house a different character, it is perfectly suited
to an open lot at this corner site. Basically a gable-end house, the large main facade gable is
pedimented, filled with patterned shingle, and accented by an undulating-shingle gable screen above
a shallow polygonal bay window. Another large wall gable, also with a patterned-shingle screen, )
rises from the south wall of the house. Patterned shingle also fills a pediment at the northeast
corner of the porch, and undulating shingle appears on a flared-gabled dormer on the north side
of the roof.
The porch, which wraps from a south side entry to the front comer of a shallow, gabled north-side
bay, is supported on Tuscan columns, and has a spindle balustrade. The main entry, in the front
of the north bay at the northeast facade corner, has a large glass-and-panel door. Most of the
windows are one-over-one-sash, some of which may be recent replacements. Other window
combinations include some 2/2's, 12/1's, 15/1's, and 16/1's, most with their original shutters. A
round-headed, leaded stained-glass stair window fills the center of the north bay, a large polygonal
bay window projects into the porch on the south part of the facade, and a large single-pane picture
window is located just south of the main door.
I
II
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [] see continuation sheet

Explain history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of
the building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community.
One of the later houses at the foot of Fairmount Street, this stylish residence is one of many
constructed at the end of the nineteenth century on Fairmount Hill for one of Main Street's
merchants. It was built in the 1890's for Joseph Cosgrove on a small lot subdivided from the
property of his father, Daniel W. Cosgrove (see Form #164, 37 Fairmount Street). Joseph
Cosgrove (1857-1941) was manager, and then succeeded his father as owner of the long-lived
family business, D.W. Cosgrove Co., a shoe store that was located on the south side of Main Street
from the 1880's through the early modern period. He served on several local boards and
committees, including as a trustee ofthe Marlborough Hospital and a director of the First National
Bank. His widow, Winifred, died in 1955.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [] see continuation sheet

Bigelow, Ella. Historical Reminiscences of Marlborough. 1910.
Maps and Atlases: Sanborns.
Marlborough Directories.
[X ] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a

completed National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
Massachusetts Historical Commission Community Property Address
80 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02116 Marlborough 25 Fairmount Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F __ 62__
National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form
Check all that apply:
[ ] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

[x] Contributing to a potential historic district [] Potential historic district
Criteria: [x] A [] B [x] C [] D
Criteria Considerations: [] A [] B [] C [] D [] E [] F [] G
Statement of Significance by Forbes I Schuler
The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.
The Joseph Cosgrove House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of a
Fairmount Hill district. The property is part of a mid to late nineteenth century neighborhood
which was developed by Samuel Boyd who had purchased Caleb Witherbee's estate in the
1850's and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the hill (no longer extant), laid out
streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the tum of the century
most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses for Marlborough's upper-middle
class. This property is one of the best preserved Queen Anne houses on Fairmount Hill. The
property retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and
association.
FOHM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Massachusetts Historical Commission

80 Boylston Street
I 69-433 II Marlborough II F I 163
Town Marlborough
nt -::e (neighborhood or village) _

····-~~7~~~~ Faiml0!!Dt Hjll
/
/
dress 34 Fainnollnt Street
"toric Name Mrs Georoe Bricrbam/Almira

o ""
Davenport House
Present dweIJino o
,""
Original dwelling
ca 1870
Maps; style
Italianate vernacular
unknmvn
.- txterior Material:
Sketch Map Foundation brick

it. Number each property for which individual Wallrrrim synthetic s;d;na
inventory form') have been completed. Label streets, - "
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof asphalt sb;nple
o
none
Major Alterations (with dates) _
recent 6-panel door
Condition fair/~ood
Moved [X] no ] yes Date NlA
Acreage Jess than one acre
Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting At corner of Fairmount, liberty.
Organiza ti on for Marlboro Hist Carom and Granger Blvd. jn residential Dei~hbOThooll
Date 4/30/94 of 19th- to early-?Otb-('entllry houses

BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristicsof this building in terms of other buildings
within the community.
In spite of its siding change and a new door, this house retains its character as one of the least
altered of Marlborough's many tall, cross-gabled vernacular houses of the 1870's. Nearly devoid
of detail, nevertheless such features as its tall proportions and an oculus under the north gable lend
it a hint of the Italianate style. It is a 2 1I2-stOl),house, generally cruciform in plan. The southern
gable-end section, at 1 lIZ-stories, is lower than the rest of the house, and has a later one-story
addition abutting it to the south. A one-story polygonal bay window fills the first story of the
western wing, which extends forward toward the street. The windows are 2-over-2-sash, with J
molded surrounds. The main entry is in a vestibule in the north wing; the comer angle between
the north and west wings is filled by a ca. 1900 porch on slender Tuscan columns, with a spindle
balustrade. The house has a molded, boxed cornice, and paneled comer pilasters.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [ ] see continuation sheet. )

Explain history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of \
iJ
The most northerly house on Fairmount Street to survive the late-twentieth-century construction
of Granger Boulevard, #34, probably built in about 1870, was owned by two women in the latter
part of the nineteenth century. Mrs. George Brigham is shown as the owner in 1871, and from at
least 1875 through 1889, the owner was Mrs. Almira Davenport. Also living here at the end of the
nineteenth century, probably as a boarder, was William Dodge, a clerk in one of the stores on Main
Street.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Maps and Atlases: Walling, 1871; Beers, 1875; Bailey & Hazen, 1878; Walker, 1889; Sanboms.
[X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of llistoric Places. If checked, a completed
National Register Criteria Statement form is attached.
80 Boylston Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F _'_63
__
[ ] Individually eligible [x] Eligible only in a historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [xl C [] D
The house built in ca. 1870 for Mrs. George Brigham, and later owned by Almira Davenport
meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of a Fairmount Hill district. The
property is part of a mid to late nineteenth century development which was laid out by Samuel
Boyd who had purchased Caleb Witherbee's estate in the 1850's and subsequently built his own
house at the crest of the hill (no longer extant), laid out streets and donated the southern slope
of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the tum of the century most lots had been improved with
large comfortable houses for Marlborough's upper-middle class. This property is an example of
a tall cross gable house of the 18705. The property retains integrity of location, design, setting,
feeling, and association.
FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Numb

80 Boylston Street
Town Marlborough
"f.~~"•.:~~Place (neighborhood or village) _

"
/::':/-*~:
e: Fairmount Hj1J
37 Fairmount Street
Caleb Witherbee House
Present Dwelling
Original Dwe)Jjog
ca 1820
Maps: style
Federal, with Italianate and

Colonial Revival updates
chitectlBuil der __ .•.• ••.ou,:o•• wa.nLL.-
u.•.•
ok _
Exterior Material:
Sketch Map Foundation granite

it. Number each property for which individual WaUffrim wide synthetic siding
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof asphalt shingle
sheet ~fspace is not sufficient here. Indica!..enorth.
-r{').O') Outbuildings/Secondary Structures _
(J.y~
none
16t)Jb
Major Alterations (with dates) _
1N Updated fa 1880 and 1900--see P 2
Condition excellent
Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _ N

•..•.•.••
/A _
Acreage less than one acre
Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting Set back from street, with large open
Organization for Marlboro Hist Camm front yard In residential neighborhood of
Date 4/30/Q4
r ; late-19th- to early-20th-century hOllses, _
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITEcruRAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other
buildings within the community.
Like many early-nineteenth-century farmhouses, this one expanded over the years, and was updated
more than once as new architectural styles came into fashion. Today it is a large, two-part building,
consisting of a 2 112-story,two-bay gable-end section oriented northward, with its side to the street,
and, extending behind it, a long two-story perpendicular rear wing. The central section of the wing •
may in fact be the earliest part of the house. The front part of the building, with its molded, boxed )
roof overhang and wide recessed entry with paneled pilasters and louvered transom, may have been )
added in the 1840's, during the Greek Revival period. A further update with some high-style
Italianate detailing apparently took place after the Civil War. It was probably at this time that the
2-over-2-sash windows, including two one-story polygonal bays on the east, and a double round-
topped window under each end gable, would have been added. The segmental-arched crowns of
the windows are a distinctive touch here, and are rare in Marlborough. The sawcut brackets at the
cornice line were probably added at about the same time. The Tuscan-columned, spindle-
balustraded porch, however, which wraps around two entire sides of the house, probably dates to
the tum of the century.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [X] see continuation sheet

Explain history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of '\
/
This house, the oldest in the Fairmount Hill neighborhood, represents the period before the hill
was developed for residential use. It was built as a farmhouse in about 1820, just off Liberty Street,
and was associated with a large acreage that stretched to the south and southeast.
Further research will be required to determine for whom the house was built. It is shown under
the names of "1(?). Howe" and "S. Howe" in 1830 and 1835. It is likely that the owner was Stephen
Howe (b. 1796), who married Mrs. Hannah Peters in 1821, a likely date for the house. He was also
the brother of Catherine Howe Gale, the mother(?) of a later owner, W.B. Gale.
The farm and house are believed to have subsequently been acquired by Caleb Witherbee (1778[9]-
1853). He had come to Marlborough from Southborough, first living on the shores of Williams
Pond, then on West Main Street on the site of the public library in the late-18th-century house
built by the Rev. Asa Packard. That house later became the residence of his son, Dennis, and
Caleb, having acquired considerable land south of Main Street, apparently came here to take up
fanning on Fairmount Hill in about 1840. Caleb Witherbee owned considerable real estate, and
was one of the wealthiest men in town. Much of his fortune was made as a trader in produce and
livestock on the Boston market. He himself had a herd of over thirty cows at one time. (Cont.)

Hudson, Charles. History of the Town of Marlborough. 1862.
Maps and Atlases: Hudson, 1830; Wood, 1835; Walling: 1853, 1857; Beers: 1875; Bailey & Hazen:
1878; Pictorial Marlborough: 1879; Walker: 1889; Sanboms.
Owners' research.
[ X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property
Marlborough Caleb Witherbee House

Massachusetts Historical Commission
80 Boylston Street Area Form No.
Boston, MA 02116 F 164
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

He served his town in many capacities, among them as a selectman, overseer of the poor, and as
the leader of the Lyceum. Deed research is likely to reveal that much of the land on the hill that
was acquired by Samuel Boyd in the 1850's and '60's was formerly part of the Witherbee farm.
By 1871 the property appears to have been acquired by F.H. Smith, and by 1875 it belonged to
lawyer W.B. Gale, who later became the law partner of James McDonald. (See 23 Prospect Street,
Form #183.) Otis Brush, Mr. Gale's brother-in-law, a dentist, who also had a general/hardware
store on Main Street, rented the house from the Gales for several years.
By 1889 the house was the home of Daniel W. Cosgrove. Although by that time most of the farm
had been sold and divided for house lots, the house then still stood on a lot of about two acres,
extending north and northwest to Liberty Street. In the 1890's the north portion of the property
was again subdivided, and a house built there for the Cosgroves' son, Joseph. (See Form #162,
25 Fairmount Street.) From at least the early 1880's, Daniel Cosgrove (1849-1921) was the
proprietor of D.W. Cosgrove, a shoe store located on the south side of Main Street. His son
became manager of the company in later years. As was typical of the times, various boarders lived
in the house, as well. In 1897, for instance, the Cosgroves boarded the clerk for the shoe store
here.
80 Boylston Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F __ 64__
[x] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

Statement of Significance by Forbes / Schuler
The Caleb Witherbee House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register. It is the original
house of the farm which was developed and subdivided to create the Fairmount Hill residential
district. Much of the land of this property became the mid to late nineteenth century
subdivision which was laid out by Samuel Boyd who had purchased Witherbee's estate in the
1850's and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the hill (no longer extant), laid out
streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the tum of the century
most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses for Marlborough's upper-middle
class. This property began as a ca. 1820 FederallGreek Revival farmhouse and has been
updated in keeping with the development of the district with Italianate and later Colonial
Revival characteristics. The property retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials,
workmanship, feeling, and association.
Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-434 I I Marlborough I I F I 165

80 Bovlston Street
Town Ma rlbOl'oJlgh
Fairmount Hill
38 Fairmount Street
Frederick Smith House
dwel1jng
Original dwelling
of Construction ca 1869
Maps; style
mansard cottage
itect/Builder unknown
Sketch Map Foundation rubble

Draw II map of the area indicating properties within
it. Number each property for which individual Wall/Trim synthetic siding
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof slate and asphalt shingle
sheet if space is not suffzeient here. Indicate north.

shed
Major Alterations (with dates) late-20th C'
wjde entry vestibule on facade, fire escape at
SF, most windows replaced, trim gone or con-

cealed.
Condition f•a•.•.
.•.ir _
(possibly)
Moved [ ] no [Xl yes Date fa 1900
Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting Near base of Fairmount Street ,
Organization for Marlboro Hist Camm in residential neighhorhood of 19Jh-early-
Date 4/30/94 earlv-70th-century

~ . houses
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECfURAL DESCRIPTION [] see continuation sheet

Describe architectural features. Evaluate the characteristics of this building in terms of other buildings
This altered building is one of several mansard cottages built on Fairmount Hill in the period just
after the Civil War. Like the houses at #s 85 and 97 Newton Street, (see Forms #175 and 174),
it has a symmetrical, three-bay facade, which features a prominent mansard wall dormer in the
center. A two-story wing projects to the rear, and an oriel polygonal bay window projects from
the south side. Most of the windows have been replaced, but two-over-two-sash remain in the bay
window. TIle roof dormers, which are aligned directly over the main walls, are gabled. ;
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [ 1 see continuation sheet.

Explain history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of
38 Fairmount Street is apparently one of what may have been several buildings of the third quarter
of the nineteenth century located south of Main Street that were moved several decades later. The "
rubble-stone foundation on which it sits is characteristic of the late 1890's to 1910, indicating a
moving date around the turn of the century. In this case thebuilding was moved only a short
distance; it was relocated from the site of the Henry Eager House, located just to the rear at #3~
Newton Street (see Form #177,) when that house was built in the 1890's.
The first owner of the house, at its former location, was Frederick Smith, a lumber and coal dealer
at Marlborough center. It is shown under the name of C.T. Smith in 1871, and as the home of
shoe-factory supetintendent John S. Felton from at least 1879 to 1889. The small lot on which it
is located was formerly the rear part of the Nahum Witherbee property at 47 Newton Street.
At the tum of the century, by which time it would have been moved to this location, and probably
divided into a double-house, this was the home of Bertram H. Davis, a civil engineer, and Cyrus
G. Stone, a clerk.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ 1 see continuation sheet

Maps and Atlases: Sanboms. (See also maps of 1871, 1875, 1878 [birdseye], and 1889.)
(X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
80 Boylston Street
Frederick Smith House
Area(s) Form No(s).
F __ 65__
[ ] Individually eligible [x] Eligible only in a historic district

[x] Contributing to a potential historic district [1 Potential historic district
Criteria Considerations: []A []B []C []D []E []F []G
The dwelling at 38 Fairmount Street meets Criteria A and C of the National Register as part of
a Fairmount Hill district. The property is part of a mid to late nineteenth century
neigihborhood which was laid out by Samuel Boyd, who had purchased Caleb Witherbee's
estate in the 1850's and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the hill (no longer
extant), laid out streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the
turn of the century most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses for
Marlborough's upper-middle class. The dwelling is one of several mansard cottages on
Fairmount Hill. The property retains integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and
association.

80 Boylston Street
Marlhornuzb
o
49 Fairmount Street
Henry/Samuel Aldrich House
Present Dwellino o
Original Dwelling
.••
of Construction ca 1865
tax valuations; style
orm Second Empire/Stick Style
unknown
Exterior Material:

it. Number each property for which individual Wall/Trim wood clapboard
including route numbers, if any. Attach a separate Roof wood shintrle
o
hip-roofed garage
Major Alterations (with dates) Gla"sed , hrac-

j keted porch on NE ftlC'acle--early 20th C:
N turned balustrade added to front terrace
Condition excellent
Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _-oN •..••.•..

!A"'--__
Recorded by Anne r;orhes Settinz~ Set back from street )

with 10no,
0
open
Organization for Marlboro Hist Comm front yard Tn residential neighborhood of
Date 4/30/94 primarily late-' 9th- to early-?Oth-C hOJlses

BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

This house, one of the most stylish of its era in Marlborough, is a hybrid of the Second Empire and
the first phase of the Stick Style, which by the late 1860's was beginning to emerge from its varied
origins with a distinct vocabulary of its own. The Second Empire is evident in the dominant,
bracketed mansard roof, although a roof of this steepness, with each of its primary facades ending
in a wide wall dormer, is relatively unusual. Some wall banding, such as the horizontal trim boards ,
at window level, is often present in a Second Empire house, but its prominence here, especially in )
the vertical banding or "stickwork" on the side elevations, shows the growing influence of the early
Stick Style, and may represent a renovation of ca. 1870: Other elements, such as the 2-over-2-sash
windows, decorative saw-cut verge boards, chamfered square posts on two south side entry porches,
and the double-leaf glass-and-panel door with long, paired etched-glass lights, are found in houses
of both styles. The roof here is pierced by two tall chimneys and several shed-roofed dormer
windows. A hip-roofed rectangular bay window projects from the facade.
Interior evidence indicates that the house was renovated sometime after 1870, possibly at the time
that it was acquired by Samuel Aldrich.

Explain history of the building. Explain its associations with local (or state) history. Include uses of the
building, and the role(s) the owners/occupants played within the community.
The building of this house illustrates a common phenomenon among Marlborough's more wealthy,
landed families: the gift of a house on the parents' property to a child at the time of his or her
marriage. When Samuel Boyd's daughter, Delia, married Henry Aldrich in 1865, this house was built
just north of her parent's house on part of the Boyds' large country estate on Fairmount Hill. (See
Area Form F, "Fairmount Hill.") Delia and her husband, who had been one of the Union soldiers
who captured the John Brown Bell (see Form) during the Civil War, lived here for only a few years,
however.
Samuel Boyd sold the property in 1870 to one of Marlborough's most prominent citizens of the latter
part of the nineteenth century, the Han. Samuel Nelson Aldrich. Born in Upton in 1838, he was
apparently a relative of Henry Aldrich. After training at Harvard Law School and in the office of
Isaac Davis and E.B. Stoddard in Worcester, he came to Marlborough in 1863 to open his own law
office. He was also married in 1865, to Mary Macfarland of Upton. In 1874 Mr. Aldrich began
practicing in Boston, and the family took up residence there during the winter, and lived in this
house for the rest of the year.
In Marlborough, Mr. Aldrich served for nine years on the School Committee, and for four years on
the Board of Selectmen, and as chairman of both. He was a director of the People's National Bank,
and president of the Marlborough Board of Trade. He was elected to the state senate twice, in
1879 and 1880, and to the Massachusetts House in 1883. In 1880, he ran for Congress as the
Democratic candidate from the Seventh Massachusetts District. (Cant.)

Hurd, D. Hamilton. History of Middlesex County, Mass. 1890.
Maps and Atlases: Walling: 1871; Beers: 1875; Bailey & Hazen: 1878; Walker: 1889; Sanboms.
Marlborough directories and tax valuations.
Pictorial Marlborough. 1879.
Middlesex County Registry of Deeds.
[X] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a completed
INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET Community Property
Massachusetts Historical Commission Marlborough Aldrich House

80 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116 Area Form No(s)
F 166
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.
From 1887 to 1890 under President Cleveland, Mr. Aldrich was assistant treasurer of the United
States at Boston. He resigned in 1890 to become president of the State National Bank. Over the
years he held many other positions, as well, including president of both the Framingham & Lowell
and the Central Massachusetts Railroads.
In 1903 the Aldriches moved permanently to Boston, and the house passed back to Delia Boyd's
sisters, Florence and Lydia Boyd. In 1909 the property was acquired by George Morse. The Morse
family owned it into the 1950's.
80 Boylston Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F __ 66__

Criteria Considerations: []A []B []C []D []E []F []G
The Henry and Samuel Aldrich House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register
individually and as part of a Fairmount Hill district. The property is part of a mid to late
nineteenth century neighborhood which was developed by Samuel Boyd who had purchased
Caleb Witherbee's estate in the 1850s and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the
hill (no longer extant), laid out streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a
park. By the turn of the century most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses
for Marlborough's upper-middle class. This dwelling is one of the earlier properties as it was
built on part of Samuel Boyd's own estate for his daughter Delia, who married Henry Aldrich in
1865. The house is one of the most stylish, illustrating some elements of the Stick Style
combined with the bracketed mansard roof of the Second Empire. The property retains
integrity of location, design, setting, material, workmanship, feeling, and association.
FOR~1 B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number
Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-435 II Marlborough I F 167

80 Boylston Street
TOWll MarlborOJ!~b
FainDount Hill
Iress 50 Fairmount Street
toric Name Thomas P. Hurley House
IS: Present Dwelling
( Original Dwelling
e of Construction ca 191 S
ree maps; style
e/Form Tudor Revival
hitect/Builder nos P Hurley, builder

.....
- " erior Material:

it. Number each property for which individual WalJ;Trim shiplap weatherboard, half-
inventory forms have been completed. Label streets, timbering
sheet If space is not sufficient here. Indicate north.
none
Major Alterations (with dates), _
Wood deck on S side attached to open

I \(01
terrace across facade' late 10th C
Condition excellent
Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date __ N_I A _
Recorded by A one Forbes Setting Set jnto the hillside on E side of
Organization for Marlboro Hist Camm street In residential Dei~bhorhood of
Date 4/30/94
, primarily late-] 9tb- fa early-20th-C hOllses
BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION ( ] see continuation sheet

This house is a rare, and extremely well-preserved, example of Tudor Revival architecture in
Marlborough. It is a large 2 l/2-story, side-gable-roofed building. On the facade, a pair oflarge wall
gables projects forward over a pair of polygonal bay windows. The walls are clad in shiplap
weatherboarding at the first story, and are half-timbered in wood and stucco on the upper sections.
The windows display the variety typical of the Tudor Revival, and include 8-over-1-sash, leaded,
colored glass in the upper sections of the bay windows, and bands of multi-pane casements at the
second-story center facade window and in a shed-roofed dormer above it. The main entry, a large
oak door with a single large glass pane, is flanked by divided sidelights, and opens into a vestibule ,
which shelters a recessed, multi-pane glass door. In front of the entry is a large portico with a half- )
timbered gable, supported on a pair of extremely heavy stuccoed columns. The architectural trim J
includes an overhanging, unboxed cornice, drop finials at the gable peaks, and heavy, decorative
beam ends at the corners.
HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [] see continuation sheet

This house was built by and for Marlborough's most prominent builder of the late 1890's and the
first quarter of the twentieth century, Thomas P. Hurley, (1868-1926), who constructed many of (
Marlborough's public structures. His local works include both the Central Fire Station and Fire {
Station #2, Marlborough City Hall, the Mitchell, Washington, and Immaculate Conception Schools,
the addition to St. Anne's Academy, the Curtis Shoe Factory, (demolished), the Marlborough
Hospital, and the gateway to Artemus Ward Park. Outside of Marlborough, he built the North
Easton High School, the Junior High School and bank buildings in Maynard, a theater block in
Clinton, and the Massachusetts Armory in Concord. So greatly was he esteemed by his city that,
after his death on a construction job in 1926, all business activity was suspended on the day of his
funeral.
Mr. Hurley, who was born in Holliston, began his building career first with Elbridge Wilkins of
Marlborough in about 1890, and then worked briefly for c.J. Graney, another local builder. He went
into business for himself in 1893, at the age of 25, with the Fire Station #2 (see Form #79) as one
of his first projects. He served the city in several capacities, including as a member of the Board
of Aldermen from 1902 to 1904, and assessor in 1899 and 1900. He married Irene M. Callahan in
1902. Their son, Thomas P. Hurley, Jr., (b. 1908), followed his father in the building trade.

Conklin, Edwin. Middlesex County and its People. 1927.
80 Boylston Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F 67

Criteria Considerations: [1 A [1 B [] C [] D [] E [] F [] G
The Thomas Hurley House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register individually and as
part of the Fairmount Hill district. The property is part of a mid to late nineteenth century
neighborhood which was laid out by Samuel Boyd who had purchased Caleb Witherbee's estate
in the 1850's and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the hill (no longer extant),
laid out streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the turn of
the century most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses for Marlborough's
upper-middle class. This dwelling is one of the later properties of the residential subdivision,
constructed by well known local builder, Thomas Hurley, who was responsible for many of
Marlborough's municipal buildings. The house is somewhat rare locally and a well preserved
example of the Tudor Revival style. The property retains integrity of location, design, setting,
material, workmanship, feeling, and association.
Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-437 II Marlborough I F 168

80 Bovlston Street
To\vn Marl boroJ! otth
Fairmount Hill
Address 64 Fairmount Street
Historic Name William A. Onthank House
Uses: Present Dwelling
Original Dwelling
Date of Construction fa 188~
Source maps: style
Style/Form Queen Anne/Stick Style
Architect/Builder unknown
Exterior Material:
Sketch Map Foundation b~n_'c_·k _

it. Number each property for which individual Wall/Trim wood clapboard, shingle, and
inventory forms have been completed. Label streets, vertical board
hip-roofed garage
Major Alterations (with dates} _
I
none
Condition excellent
Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _~N .•..

!A _
Recorded by Anile Forbes Setting Set into the hillside on F side of
Organization far Marlboro Hist Carom street In residential neighborhood of
Date 4130194 prim arily late-19tb- to early-20th-C hOllses

BUILDING FORM
ARCHITECfURAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

Although the true Stick Style of the late-1860's-'70's is rare in Marlborough, several high-style
houses of the early 1880's display an elaborate combination of Stick Style elements with features of
the early Queen Anne. Here the steep, screened gables and "stickwork " trim and wall decoration
are combined with the more bulky proportions and patterned-shingle surfaces of the Queen Anne.
This is a 2 l/2-story, cross-gabled building on a high brick basement, dad in wood clapboards at the \
first story, wood patterned shingle on the second, wood shingle in a large facade gable, and vertical .,j
board 'Withdiagonal stickwork screens in the south- and north-facing gables. At the rear, a steep
shed roof overhangs a two-story extension that is built into the hillside. A one-story shed-roofed bay
projects from the center of the south side; behind it the southeast corner of the building is hip-
roofed. The north side of the house has a similar rear comer bay, and a one-story ell supported on
high brick piers.
The facade is symmetrical, three bays wide, with paired windows and a center entry with a double-
leaf door with clear- and colored-glass panels. The windows on the sides of the house are triple
double-hung sash, single-pane on the bottom, and diagonally-divided on the top.
-s-
A facade-width porch is supported on square posts embellished with Eastlakian-type incised ,

decorations and medallions. Adding to the decorative quality of the porch are flared braces and a ,
"Japanesque" balustrade. Other architectural trim here is equally elaborate, with several Stck-Style J
and Eastlakian touches. A wide cove cornice with applied X designs appears below the facade gable,
which is adorned by a pointed-arched truss. The gables are trimmed with incised, decorative verge
boards, and vertical-boarding, stickwork, and pierced decoration adorn the triangular panel below
the south side bay roof. Above the main entry is a round-arched panel with carved, applied
decoration.

64 Fairmount Street is one of many stylish houses on Fairmount Hill that was built as the residence
of one of Marlborough's prosperous Main Street businessmen. It was the home of William (Willie)
A. Onthank, a pharmacist who had a drug store in the old Fairmount Block at the corner of Main
and Newton Streets. He had formerly lived in his father's house at 74 Newton Street (see Form
#176), and apparently built this house, the last on the east side of Fairmount Street, sometime
between 1883 and 1889. A newspaper account in December, 1889, notes the "magnificent" soda
fountain he installed in his pharmacy, possibly the first one in town.
BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES l l see continuation sheet

Marlborough Enterprise. 1217/1889.
80 Boylston Street
Area(s) Form No(s).
F __ 68__

The W.A. Onthank House meets Criteria A and C of the National Register individually and as
part of a Fairmount Hill district. The property is part of a mid to late nineteenth century
neighborhood which was developed by Samuel Boyd who had purchased Caleb Witherbee's
estate in the 1850's and subsequently built his own house at the crest of the hill (no longer
extant), laid out streets and donated the southern slope of Fairmount Hill for a park. By the
tum of the century most lots had been improved with large comfortable houses for
Marlborough's upper-middle class. This ca. 1885 dwelling is one of the best local examples of
the Queen Anne Style as combined with the waning Stick Style. The property retains integrity
of location, design, setting, material, workmanship, feeling, and association.

Fairmont Street

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FORM B - BUILDING Assessor's number USGS Quad Area(s) Form Number

Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-419 I I Marlborough I F 162

Place (neighborhood or village) _

Address 25 Fairmount Street

Historic N arne Joseph Cosgrove House

Uses: Present Dwellincr o

Date of Construction ca. 1890's

Source Maps: style

Style/Form Queen Anne

Sketch Map Foundation orange brick

c-j ,!5Q (1, Major Alterations (with dates).•.. _

Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _~N-.I~A _

Acreage Jess than one acre

Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting At corner of FairmollDt and I iherty,

Organization for Marlboro Hjst Comm overlookinO' _ GranO'er

Date 4/30/94 of late-19th- to early-70tb-C houses

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [] see continuation sheet

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [] see continuation sheet

[X ] Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, a

Area(s) Form No(s).

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[ ] Individually eligible [ ] Eligible only in a historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [x] C [] D

Statement of Significance by Forbes I Schuler

Massachusetts Historical Commission

Boston, Massachusetts 02116

nt -::e (neighborhood or village) _

dress 34 Fainnollnt Street

"toric Name Mrs Georoe Bricrbam/Almira

Sketch Map Foundation brick

Major Alterations (with dates) _

recent 6-panel door

Moved [X] no ] yes Date NlA

Acreage Jess than one acre

Recorded by Anne Forbes Setting At corner of Fairmount, liberty.

Date 4/30/94 of 19th- to early-?Otb-('entllry houses

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION [] see continuation sheet

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [ ] see continuation sheet. )

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [ ] see continuation sheet

Area(s) Form No(s).

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

[ ] Individually eligible [x] Eligible only in a historic district

Criteria: [x] A [] B [xl C [] D

Statement of Significance by Forbes I Schuler

Massachusetts Historical Commission I 69-418 I I Marlborough I F 164

"f.~~"•.:~~Place (neighborhood or village) _

Caleb Witherbee House

Federal, with Italianate and

Sketch Map Foundation granite

1N Updated fa 1880 and 1900--see P 2

Moved [X] no [ ] yes Date _ N

Acreage less than one acre

Organization for Marlboro Hist Camm front yard In residential neighborhood of

ARCHITEcruRAL DESCRIPTION [ ] see continuation sheet

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE [X] see continuation sheet

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES [] see continuation sheet

Marlborough Caleb Witherbee House

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE, cont.

Area(s) Form No(s).

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

"f."•.:Place (neighborhood or village) _