" Massachusetts Historic Preservation " " " ' S'^IASS/AF^liEUST LIBRARY Volume i: Past and Present Massachusetts Historical Commission Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/massachusettshis01mass_0 : United States Department of the Interior National Park Service Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Washington, DC CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the docxoment submitted herewith constitutes Volume 1 of the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Plan of June 30, 1975, in accordance with the requirements set forth in the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation Policies and Procedures , as revised, and in compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and that the State Review Board has approved the content. STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICER CERTIFICATION Elizabeth Reed Amadon Massachusetts State Historic Preservation Officer CATION OF THIS DOCUMENT APPROVED BY ALFRED C, HOLLAND, STATE PURCHASING ACENT. Estimated cost per copy SI. 58 f The preparation and piablication of this voliiine has been assisted by a grant from the National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior, under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The cover drawing was produced by the Historic American Building Survey and depicts the Custom House in Salem. Massachusetts Historic Preservation Volume 1- Past and Present Massachusetts Historical Commission 40 Beacon Street Boston, Massachusetts 02108 June, 1975 Contents Introduction — 5 Summary of Massachusetts History i Topography and Geology 8 Massachusetts D\aring the Age of Discovery 10 Plymouth Colony and Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1620 - 1691 — 15 Province of Massachusetts Bay, 1691 - 1780 23 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1780 - 1860 30 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1860 - 1918 37 Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1918 - 1975 41 Cultural History of Massachusetts 44 Architecture 44 Art 55 Literature 5 7 Music \ 61 Theatre 63 The Indians in Massachusetts 66 The Role of the Blacks in Massachusetts History 71 Population of Massachusetts, 1765 - 1970 73 Selected Bibliography — 74 Historic Preservation in Massachusetts — n History of the Preservation Movement in Massachusetts 78 Philosophy of the Massachusetts Historic Preservation Program 89 Relationship of Preservation Planning to Other State Planning 91 Major Preservation Problems 94 Inventory and National Register Procedures 96 Purposes of the Inventory 96 Organization of the Inventory 96 National Register Procedures 111 Bellingham-Carey House, Chelsea , : Introduction 5 This volume is part of the official State Historic Preservation Plan prepared by the Massachusetts Historical Commission with the assistance of a matching grant-in-aid from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, This volume is divided into two sections, a Summary of Massachusetts History and Historic Preservation in Massachusetts. Other peirts of the Plan are Volume 2 (Inventory of Historic Assets) and Volume 3 (Annual Preservation Program) Current Commission and Staff (June, 1975) PAUL GUZZI Secretary of the Commonwealth Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission Other members of Massachusetts Historical Commission: Acting Commissioner of Commerce and Development Ernest A. Lucci, represented by Alfred Sherman Acting Commissioner of Natural Resources Joseph H. Brown, represented by Bruce S. Gullion Thomas Boylston Adams (Massachusetts Historical Society) Daniel J. Coolidge (The Trustees of Reservations) John W. Curtis (American Antiquarian Society) Hugh C. Davis (Governor's appointee) Jean M. Harrington (Bay State Historical League) Edmund H. Kellogg (Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) James B. Bell (New England Historic Genealogical Society) George Horner (Massachusetts Archaeological Society) Monsignor Edward G. Murray (Governor's appointee) Massachusetts Historical Commission staff: Elizabeth R. Amadon, Executive Director Patricia L. Weslowski, Survey Director Stephen H. Snell, Grants Manager Richard T. Early, Administrative Assistant, Historian Christine A. Boulding, Assistant Survey Director Judy Dobbs, National Register Editor William Q. Hubbard, Preservation Plan Editor Patricia J. Jenny, Editorial Assistant Rita E. Morrison, Retrieval Programmer/Historian Lee S. Tabor, Assistant Grants Manager : 6 Commission and staff at time of draft publication (June, 1974) JOHN F. X. DAVOREN Secretairy of the Commonwealth Chairman, Massachusetts Historical Commission Other members of the Massachusetts Historical Commission: Commissioner of Commerce and Development Frederick A. Centanni, represented by Alfred Sherman Commissioner of Natural Resources Arthur W. Brownell, represented by Bruce S. Gullion Thomas Boylston Adams (Massachusetts Historical Society) John Otis Brew (The Trustees of Reservations) John W. Curtis (American Antiquarian Society) Hugh C. Davis (Governor's appointee) Jean M. Harrington (Bay State Historical League) Edmund H. Kellogg (Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities) Edward G. Murray (Governor's appointee) Walter Muir Whitehill (New England Historic Genealogical Society) Donald C. Wilder (Massachusetts Archaeological Society) Massachusetts Historical Commission staff: Robert B. Rettig, Executive Director Elizabeth R. Amadon, Survey Director Patricia L. Weslowski, Assistant Survey Director Stephen H. Snell, Grants Manager Rita E. Morrison, Retrieval Programmer Mindy Arbo, National Register Editor Christine Boulding, Senior Editorial Clerk Gties, Towns and Counties in Massachusetts 0 5 10 20 30 North Miles Summary of Massachusetts History The purpose of this historical summary is to provide background and context for the state historic preservation program and for the inventory of Massachusetts historic assets. The approach is purposely broad, in order to include as many aspects of the history of the Commonwealth as possible. In writing this summary, no attempt was made to conduct original research in primary sources; rather, accessible secondary sources were consulted. The author of the original version of this summary was Polly Mattherly Rettig, a member of the staff of the Massachusetts Historical Commission from 1970 until 1973. This edition has been has been revised and edited by Richard T. Early, Administrative Assistant and Staff Historian. Dr. George R. Horner, Archeologist and member of the Massachusetts Historical Commission, contributed the section on the Indians in Massachusetts. Acknowledgement is made to the Massachusetts Census Division for permission to reprint the population statistics of the Commonwealth. Appreciation is also expressed to the staffs of the Boston Athenaeum, the State Library of Massachusetts, and the Boston Public Library, for their assistance. Topography and Geology In form, Massachusetts is a long, relatively narrow strip of land extend- ing westward from the Atlantic Ocean, bounded on the north by New Hamp- shire and Vermont, on the west by New York, and on the south by Connecti- cut, Rhode Island, and the ocean. The state extends approximately between the latitudes of 41"^ 14' and 42*^ 53' N and covers a total area of 8,257 square miles, of which 390 square miles are water. Massachusetts has four major physiographic features: coastal lowlands, interior lowlands, dissected uplands, and ancient mountain remnants. The coastal lowlands include eastern Massachusetts with Cape Cod and the offshore islands. The coastline itself, approximately 250 miles long, is marked by a rugged shore— except along the South Shore and Cape Cod— and deep indentations, both evidence of early submergence and later uplift. Among the prominent coastal features are submerged river mouths, a number of good harbors, and Boston, Buzzards and Narragansett Bays. River falls and rapids found further inland are the result of lowering of the coastal plain. The outstanding feature of the coastal lowlands is Cape Cod, which arches sixty-five miles into the Atlantic. This peninsula and the neighboring islands —Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and sixteen Elizabeth Islands — are glacial in origin. During the gla- cial period, the entire state of Massachusetts was covered by the ice sheet, resulting in glaciation of rocks as far as Cape Cod and the islands, where traces can be found of the terminal moraine. The state's two interior lowlands are the Connecticut River Valley and the Berkshire Valley. The Connecticut Valley extends from the New Hampshire-Vermont border through Connecticut to Long Island Sound. It is drained throughout its length by the Connecticut River, the only large river in Massachusetts that is navigable for any considerable portion of its course. The valley's landscape is marked by curved wooded ridges running longitudinally to the river; these originated with intrusive lava that resisted erosion after outer, weaker layers of rock had worn away. To the west lies the Berkshire Valley, defined by the Berkshire Hills on the east and the Taconic Mountains on the west. The northern part of the valley is watered by streams cutting through the Taconics to the Hudson River, the southern part by the source of the Housatonic River. From Pittsfield north to the Vermont border, the valley is only six miles wide, but southward it opens into broad meadowlands Massachusetts' uplands are divided into eastern and western portions by the Connecticut Valley and join north of it to form northern New England's great central uplands. The eastern uplands,